


Knocked Out

by xingnini



Series: Knocked Out [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fantasy, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts, Wonderland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-11-06 17:07:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 39,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11040549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xingnini/pseuds/xingnini
Summary: Baekhyun doesn't know what he's doing with his life, until he ends up in a place that makes even less sense.





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's to a place where no one wants to go

The bus made its final stop before it would go on the highway. Baekhyun saw a woman get on and the first thing he noticed was the way she was dressed.  _ What in the world was she wearing? _ She had on knee high socks, one with an orange and yellow striped pattern and the other with blue swirls and green colors. She had on a long unproportional flowery skirt and she was wearing a worn out brown trench coat.  _ Where were people’s fashion senses these days?  _ There were no more empty solo seats on the bus, so she just held onto a metal bar. 

 

The bus began moving and soon was on the highway.

 

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ A lake. _

 

 

 

_ More trees. _

 

 

 

Baekhyun was sitting on the bus with his camera in his lap, and his backpack on the seat next to his. Resting his chin on his hand, he had his head peeking out of the window, calmly looking out over the highway and feeling the breeze brush past him as the bus moved.

 

He just wanted to fall asleep like this, then and there. He hadn’t slept properly for a long time, and he couldn’t remember how a good night’s sleep felt like. He could feel his eye bags weighing down his face. With the wind softly blowing in his face, he thought it would be nice to take a nap… but he couldn’t fall asleep and miss his bus stop.

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ More trees. _

 

 

 

The weather had been crazy lately. It was a very beautiful day today, but just yesterday, it was cold and rainy; Baekhyun's hands had been red and numb and he couldn't feel his feet at the end of the twenty minute walk from the bus stop to his apartment. It was already spring, but the weather was unwilling to let go of the chilly winter winds. The trees still suffered, showing no sign of leaves. 

 

Baekhyun had the sudden urge for the bus to crash. Or maybe, he thought it would be better if the rest of the bus was left alone and he was suddenly pulled out of the window and dragged on the concrete of the highway. That would be a bloody and painful mess. He shook the thought out of his head, like he had done multiple times in the past.

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ They were all dead. _

 

 

 

_ Naked and bare. _

 

 

 

Baekhyun was bored with his life. He was just a photographer living a picturesque life - nothing special or disheartening ever happened. While everyone would be living in a big house worrying about paying their electricity and water bills and laughing at dinner with their family, Baekhyun would be alone in his apartment, thinking of an idea for his next photoshoot set. His apartment was nice and cheap, but nothing too exciting ever happens, and Baekhyun is too lazy to make a change. There was nothing interesting enough to distract him from his dangerous thoughts. 

 

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ More trees. _

 

 

 

_ A waving sloth.  _

 

 

 

_ Highway railing.  _

 

 

 

_ Wait, sloth?  _

 

Baekhyun whipped his head around to see the spot the bus had just passed. There was nothing there.  _ Yeah, what else would a sloth be doing on the side of a highway rail waving at automobiles that pass by? They live on trees in a rainforest… _ Baekhyun’s boredom must be reaching its peak — he’s officially going crazy.

 

_ Isn’t that what happens when people pursue a career in the artistic field? _ He’s heard of painters going mad and classical musicians committing suicide. Photography is considered an art, right? It was bound to happen soon anyway.

 

It was boring and uneventful and tedious. The photographs Baekhyun took could be colorful depending on the setting, but all of them were the same — they were unmoving. They stood still in the frame and they didn’t speak. The people who saw Baekhyun’s pictures didn’t think the same and thought they were very beautiful; they always said, “Wow! You snapped the photo at the right time!!”, but Baekhyun always thought otherwise. They were nothing special, just like his life. Everything was getting so repetitive and everything was becoming a routine. 

 

He had friends and colleagues, but they weren’t close enough with him that they would make plans to gather every other weekend. Baekhyun didn’t want to admit it, but he was alone. He didn’t want to open up to anyone, which, he thought, could be the cause of his boring life. But he didn't want to do anything about it.

 

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ Trees. _

 

 

 

_ Buildings. _

 

 

 

_ Hmm, what to do? _

 

 

 

_ Could anything change everything around? _


	2. The Sloth's Pan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But once you give up on life, it's a place you're glad to know

Baekhyun gathered his things as he stepped off the bus and onto concrete. The art exhibition he was attending was supposedly one block away from the bus stop. When he turned the corner, he saw it; with the huge pillars, rounded top, and massive marble steps leading to the entrance, the white building housing the event looked like a smaller and less fancy version of a state capitol. 

 

When he entered the building, the first thing he saw were another huge set of white stairs, diverging from the center of the room only to meet at the second floor, which could be seen past the banisters all around the room. When he looked straight up, he saw a square glass window right smack in the middle of the ceiling with the sunlight streaming in, and overhead, white sheets were cascading across the top, one end hanging from one side of the room’s banister and the other end hanging on the railing facing opposite. In the light, it looked peaceful and bright. 

 

The building was already full of people holding cameras just like him. Everywhere he looked was a bright flash, full of people talking and occasional laughter. There were pieces of art lined up on the wall with people surrounding them, full of discussion and bright gleaming lenses. 

 

He came alone.

 

All the talking and the bright flashing lights were giving him a headache - how did celebrities walk through red carpets without going blind? It looked like no one was on the second floor, so he decided to head up the stairs, where there were more pieces of art but less people, in fact no people at all. With the people crowding around each painting, he couldn’t see through them anyway; he liked it better in places where it was quiet. 

 

He had no intention of striking up a conversation with anyone and leaving the place with a new friend. He was here to look at sculptures and fine pieces of art … created by what looked like… children.

 

Now that Baekhyun had a closer look at it all, the theme actually looked very childish.

 

There were sculptures of wooden British soldiers lined up in one corner, with faces painted with different expressions and different styles of art - it was really distinct from other exhibitions he had been to. It really looked like the whole display was created by ambitious 6 year olds who had an idea in their heads and paint on their hands. 

 

On the other side of the room, another sculpture of what looked like a person created out of fruits was sitting on a bench, which was painted over with a scenery of clouds on the backrest and a field of green grass on the seat. 

 

Baekhyun walked over to a painting full of green, white, and black colors. On close inspection, there was a distorted bubble buddy figure with black unproportional circles as eyes. Behind it were patterns of green and white swirls and checkers and diamonds running across the background of the painting. Baekhyun thought it was pretty creative and cute and decided to take a picture of it. With it stored in the memory of his camera, he had no idea what he would do with it, but he decided he could always look back at it.  _ Better safe than sorry. _

 

What time was it? He should duck out of there soon before someone downstairs recognized him as the photographer, Byun Baekhyun. Again, he was not in the mood to strike up conversation with anyone. 4:07 pm. 

 

Baekhyun went on to see the next painting, but he realized it was blank. The whole canvas was white and empty. Baekhyun tried to examine it and see if there’s some hidden invisible paint that would show if the light hit it differently, but there was none. This random unmarked, and plain frame hanging in the art exhibition left Baekhyun puzzled.  

 

_ Yip! _

 

Baekhyun whipped around to see where that noise came from. Nothing was there and it didn’t seem like anything moved… Baekhyun looked down to the floor to find a little white fluff ball of a dog looking straight back up at him. He had to cover his mouth from almost letting out a noise of despair because of how cute the dog was.

 

“Hello there, little puppy!” Baekhyun cooed in a voice that was about 3 octaves higher than his usual tone. 

 

Then it turned around and pounced across the hall to go inside an empty room. Was this anyone’s dog? He turned to look over the banister and beneath to the first floor to see if there was any distressed person looking all over the place for their missing dog. When he looked, he thought his eyes were deceiving him - no one was there on the first floor.

 

No, that can’t be. Not a single person. There were over fifty people in the room just about 30 seconds ago, he was sure of it. Did they perhaps move into another room to inspect some collector’s item painting? It was deadly quiet and he had been sure everyone was talking before he turned around to see the dog prance into the empty room. Something was off; dogs were not supposed to be in this building. What to do? Baekhyun decided he had to follow it and watch it to make sure it didn’t soil the second floor’s rooms. He would have to follow the puppy and maybe find its owner later.

 

When he went inside the room — _ HOLY SHIT! WAIT, NO, SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS DOING HERE!! _ Baekhyun found himself a few feet away from a huge Rottweiler, standing its ground with a ferocious snarl playing across its bared teeth.  _ What the fuck is a vicious looking Rottweiler doing in an art museum?!  _

 

“Nice… doggie…” Baekhyun tried to calm the dog, making sure to keep a good distance between himself and the dog. He would be fine as long as the dog doesn’t lunge at him. 

 

Suddenly, the dog’s savage expression cleared into an alarmed one, and its ears perked up before it turned around and went into another and darker room.  _ What had it heard? What caught its attention? _ Nothing as interesting as this had happened to Baekhyun in a long time, so if it’s not going to hurt him, he might as well follow it.

 

Another white room, but it was darker than the last. They all had the common low ceiling and the empty-room-no-furniture-in-sight look. He looked around the room before he saw the tail of a brown and green snake slithering out the door on the other side of the room.  _ Oh hell… _

 

_ Something is really weird. Where did the two dogs go? How did a snake get in here? There aren’t any snakes in this area in the first place.  _

 

Again, Baekhyun decided to exit the room to follow whatever animal he was seeing. Running into the room, he saw there were no more exits in this room (the rooms all looked the same, they just got darker and more dimly lit); instead, there was a sloth waving to him in the center of the room.  _ Was this real? Wait, was this the sloth from the highway?   _

 

He was compelled to wave back until he saw something move in his line of vision. Looking up, he saw a small contraption attached to the ceiling and he realized it was a silver cooking pan. Before he could do anything, it swung down at him and hit him right in the back of the head, causing him to black out.


	3. The Room of Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A room of mirrors painted in dark hues

When Baekhyun comes to, his vision is fuzzy and a little dark — it was like a dusty and gray dark, not the Prussian blue dark that you wake up to at 5 in the morning when the sun is about to rise.

 

_ Why is it so dark? What time is it?  _ He opened his eyes a little and lifted his wrist to his face. The seconds hand was not moving, which means neither were the minute or hour hands. 

 

Baekhyun sat up too quickly and it was like a banging drum was having a fiesta next to his brain. He groaned and grabbed his throbbing head, rubbing it as if it would make him feel better. He lied back down and closed his eyes in an attempt to calm down his angry headache. Then, he noticed his neck was bare and felt like it was missing something.

 

...

 

_ Where's my camera? _

 

When he opened his eyes to look for his camera, something brown and hairily slick was next to him, black eyes looming over his face staring into his soul. It was the sloth.

 

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Baekhyun yelped and shot up again, and the sloth belted out a long and loud squeal and scampered behind a tall frame in one corner of the room.  _ The hell? Weren't sloths supposed to be slow? I don’t think they run like that... I must be dreaming...  _

 

Baekhyun did his best to ignore the now dull pounding of his head and got up to check behind the frame the sloth ran behind. There was only a puff of smoke left behind...  _ A sloth that smokes? Am I high? Where exactly am I? _ Baekhyun turned back to take a closer look at the room. When he became better aware of his surroundings, he realized the frame was a mirror. Actually the whole room was full of mirrors, like in a House of Mirrors that could be found in a carnival. There were no walls or windows in sight; there was no escape. 

 

"Goodbye."

 

Baekhyun whipped his head around to see a young man, who was wearing a black fitted tuxedo and a white dress shirt. He had gray, ashy-blonde hair that was pushed back and he was a little tan; his jawline was so sharp and defined and he looked very lean. He had his arms folded across his chest and was leaning against the wall. He said goodbye, but he looked like he wasn't going anywhere.

 

“Hello? Who are you? Actually I don't care, but can you please help me? One moment ago, I was in an art exhibition, then I was chasing a snake — wait was it a snake? Wasn’t it a dog, or a sloth, or whatever… — ANYWAYS, I suddenly end up here, and I really don’t know where I am.”

 

"Hmm, you care about who I am? That's nice... Say, what are you doing here? What would make you want to come here?" The guy began to light up with interest.

 

"What? I didn't want to come here, I don't even know this place. Are we at a carnival? Did you carry me here? I wouldn't think you did, unless this is one of the rooms on the second floor."

 

“So little questions at a time… Boring…” the guy purred before he visibly snapped his fingers and disappeared into a puff of black smoke.  _ What? Where’d he go? How'd he do that, is he a magician? He’s really going to leave me in here? Wasn’t he going to help me? Am I going to be stuck in here forever? _

 

“A lot of people show up here you know…” A voiced creeped up behind his neck, causing Baekhyun to shiver. When he turned around, there was only smoke in place. “It’s such a hassle to have company here.” He followed the direction in which the voice was coming from to find the gray-haired guy leaning on the wall again. 

 

“Yeah, but I don’t exactly know how  _ I _ got here. Do you think you can help me get out?”

 

“Of course, because I like to help charity cases,” the man said, now perched on top of one of the mirrors across the room opposite from the wall he leaned on. Baekhyun didn’t even notice him climb on top of it or even cross to the other side of the room.  _ Did he just call me a charity case? _ Baekhyun couldn’t tell whether or not he was being sarcastic, so he didn’t know whether or not he should be offended. But the smile the man gave off was so enthusiastic, like he was enjoying the company — like he hasn’t seen anyone in more than a year. 

 

“Uh, okay, then please give me directions for the way out.” 

 

“I said a long time ago, I would like to help charity cases, I’m a pretty nice person.”  _ Why is the guy talking like this? It’s like his sentences don’t flow correctly… _

 

“That’s great and all, but I didn’t know you a long time ago, I literally just met you a few seconds ago, but you seem to know this place pretty well, seeing that you know the quickest way to get up on a mirror, so I need some instructions and guidance to get out of here?” Baekhyun spurred out in a long string of sentences. He was becoming impatient; he didn’t know why, he really didn’t have anywhere to go, but he just wanted to get out. He felt like someone was playing a prank on him, and he didn’t want to stay long enough for a bunch of people to jump out of nowhere, screaming, “YOU JUST GOT PUNK’D, SON!” 

 

“Blah, blah, blah — you talk too little. And wow, boy, I can’t see your sarcasm. Mad sassy…”

 

“JUST GET ME DIRECTIONS OUT OF HERE!!” The man was taken aback by his sudden outburst. Baekhyun was usually one to lose his temper quite easily, and this guy was playing tricks — he could tell.

 

There's a saying that your eyes twinkle like the stars in the sky, but in this guy's eyes, you can see the whole fucking galaxy, sun and planetary bodies and all; his delight can be compared to a genius kid who has been working on a wayward experiment, but finally got it right after months. It was odd, though, because Baekhyun just bit off his head seconds ago. “If you really must know, I don’t talk in opposites.” 

 

“What?” Where the man was sitting was replaced with black smoke once again. Baekhyun was about ready to jump on top of the mirror to see if there was any contraption that made him transport down a tube into the floor or something, this type of shit just doesn’t happen. How was he even sitting on the mirror? It’s literally reflective glass in a frame that can snap under some weight; the man looked as if he weighed 5 pounds when he sat on the mirror, when in reality he probably weighed about 140.

 

“Trust everything I say. I’m the only one here.” He reappeared in one of the mirrors. He started walking, and with each step he took, he appeared into more mirrors. He looked as if he was everywhere. "Think about it for a second."

 

Baekhyun was beyond confused at this point. He was wrong... So wrong. The the guy wasn't enjoying the fact that Baekhyun was there, he was enjoying messing around with him. "So don't trust you... If you're saying you don't talk in opposites and you're talking in opposites, that means you do talk in opposites, therefore saying not to trust you and that there are other people here."

 

"Incorrect! That is not what I said."

 

"But you said... Eyy, I'm right aren't I?

 

"I don't talk in opposites," the man repeated, flashing a huge grin before turning into black smoke with a loud crack.

 

"Precisely! I am correct!" Baekhyun was excited that he was able to figure what was going on around him for once.  _ What if there are even weirder things in this place? A teleporting guy who talked in opposites? This was definitely a dream. I'll probably wake up soon but for now I'll just go along with everything...  _

 

He reappeared right in front of Baekhyun; he was just a little taller, Baekhyun probably reached only the man's hair fringe if his hair was down. "That's fantastic. Way to go."

 

"I don't know the opposite of those, but I'll take it you're being sarcastic. So can you help me now?" 

 

"Yeah, sure, but I want you to teach something to me first."  _ The opposite of learn is teach, right? If he's going to keep talking opposites, it's going to be hard to keep up with him from having to evaluate everything he says. Wait, he said yeah... He's not going to help? _

 

"What, what, what? After you teach me something, you can let me go right?"  _ Will he teach me the way out of here? If the solution is right in my face, I will not fail to castrate someone.  _

 

"Alright, you know how people don't look at mirrors to see their appearances? There are most likely to be no mirrors in a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen," he counted off on his fingers. "There are mirrors almost nowhere to be found! The question isn't: Why is that?"

 

"They want to see how they look like?" Baekhyun guessed. 

 

"Not quite, people don't even look at themselves in the reflection of their black-tinted car window! Why is that?"  

 

"I don't know, I don't really care about my own appearance." 

 

"No, but you don't care about other people's appearances, wrong?" Baekhyun thought about it. Yes, he doesn't care what he looked like, he didn't work very hard to dress himself well, but it's not like he put on rags as clothes. He thought about the lady on the bus that was wearing different colored socks with a brown trench coat; he had judged her. Is this what the guy was talking about?

 

Baekhyun knew what the mirrored man was talking about now. When he looked back up to him, he was gone. At this point, Baekhyun was exasperated;  _ why did the guy keep willing himself to disappear?  _

 

_ Crack! _

 

Baekhyun whirled around to his left, where he saw the guy sitting cross-legged in midair. So he  _ can _ float... which would explain how he was able to sit on top of the mirror.

 

"Do you not know the question later?"  

 

"People stop and look at themselves in the mirror because they want to make sure they don't get judged for their appearance." 

 

"Wrong. Instead, they don't spend a lot of time and they aren't stuck worrying about such an important standard that society set. Just as different as you aren't stuck here."

 

_ Crack! _

 

Mirrors. This place was full of mirrors. 

 

_ Crack! _

 

"Okay, I think you didn't teach enough. Don't try stepping into a mirror."

 

"What? Will it get me out of here?" The man motioned for him to try.

 

Baekhyun spotted a mirror that looked a little, but more fluid than the rest. It caused ripples around the outline of Baekhyun's reflection — it seemed reasonable to walk through it.

 

Baekhyun walked right into the mirror with a loud  _ BANG!  _ Immediately, he heard uproariously laughter and saw the man doubled over cracking up, slapping his knees occasionally. Baekhyun could feel his head throbbing again; he wasn't sure if it was from the crash or from his frustration — this guy was such a prankster. At least there were no PUNK'D crew members coming out of nowhere.

 

When he calmed down, he helped Baekhyun stand up on his two feet and walked over to a fairly normal looking mirror. "Alright, alright. You shouldn't try this one. But, I don't say... you were pretty boring to meet. I can believe you were going to come with saying hello," the young man said, muttering the last sentence. "Anyway, I hope you don't have a great journey during your stay here. Send my worst regards to the one with shadows." 

 

Baekhyun was going to ask him what he meant by "your stay here" and "the one with shadows", when he felt himself get pushed into the mirror. He was falling and he was yelling, a little surprised at what was happening. He turned in midair, to try to face the guy who taught him a very valuable lesson, and he saw him smiling and waving in such a warm and friendly way, but it created a sad and lonely picture. "WAIT, I NEVER GOT YOUR NAME!! THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME!"  

 

Through all the crazy colors and the warped noises he was plunging down into, Baekhyun thought he heard him say, "Jongout!", but he couldn't be sure. He fell and fell, deeper and deeper until he could no longer see the man he made acquaintances with in this unfamiliar and weird place, and the pit he was pushed into became less colorful and darker, until it eventually became black. When he saw the end of it, a flash of blue and fluffy clouds, he thought he was falling into the sky, until it got closer and closer and he plunge into the heavens with a loud  _ SPLASH!  _


	4. The Pool of Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pool of tears splashed with bright blues

_ Where am I? _

 

_ Everything feels wet… I feel like I'm drenched...  _

 

Baekhyun opened his eyes and saw, not very far off from where he was, a man in a bubble, curled up in fetal position; he appeared to be sleeping… he looked so much in peace… Even though his vision was blurry, Baekhyun could tell the man was very handsome. 

 

Suddenly, Baekhyun felt like he couldn’t breathe. He could feel his lungs slowly deflating and his blood turn cold. Where exactly was he? His arms and legs began to burn and tire out, even though he wasn’t moving them, but he knew he had to move them to get out from wherever he was. 

 

Everything was blue. It became evident to him he was in water. Baekhyun kicked and kicked, but before he surfaced, he saw that the man in the bubble had opened his eyes and woken up.

 

Air hit him and oxygen filled up his lungs once again when his head was above the water. There were no more clouds or blue sky around him; it was only a reflection of what was above him. “So I’m in a pool…” Baekhyun tried to swim over to the edge of the pool where there was a golden ladder to get out of the pool. 

 

“You certainly cried a lot…”

 

A voice had said it out of nowhere, surprising Baekhyun. He abruptly stopped climbing the ladder’s steps and turned to his side where he thought he had heard it, and he saw another young man sitting cross-legged on a huge black structure that stemmed out of the pool deck. He had papers and pens all around him, and a guitar was sitting by his side. 

 

“Wh-what?” 

 

“You’ve suffered many hardships and loneliness…” The man was talking to Baekhyun, but he was not looking at him; instead he was focusing on blowing hazy-looking bubbles. On closer inspection, the solid black structure, the man was sitting on was a bass clef eighth note.  _ What an odd construction…  _

 

“How do you know?” Baekhyun inquired to the stranger, purely curious and interested in what he knew and had to say.

 

The man turned to Baekhyun for the first time. “This pool is filled with all the tears you have shed in your entire lifetime. Quite impressive, considering it was able to fill a 25-yd pool with a depth of 9 ft. It says something, you know… It says quite a lot.” The man paused before he turned back to blow his bubbles again. “But you may want to get out of there rather soon. He’s going to try to drown you.”

 

“Who…?” Baekhyun turned around and saw who he was talking about. A deadly pale-white man with jet black hair had just his forehead and eyes above the water, but he was coming towards him at an increasingly growing speed, a hand with long ugly black fingernails outstretched with the intent to push Baekhyun’s head completely underwater. Baekhyun yelped and scrambled out of the pool, right before the ghostly figure collided into the ladder.

 

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Baekhyun squeaked, as the water phantom glared at him for a few seconds, face except eyes submerged in water again, until he disappeared to the bottom of the pool once more.

 

“Don’t you recall? He was the one you saw at the bottom, sleeping in his bubble before you awoke him,” the guy said, preceding a successfully blown huge bubble. “Take a look.”

 

Baekhyun walked over to the edge of the pool and saw at the bottom of the pool the handsome man he saw earlier on was sleeping again in his huge bubble.  _ Was that really him who tried to drown me?  _ “What happened to him? How did he become like that when he tried to drown me?” 

 

When the question got through to him, the man looked slightly taken aback by surprise. “You mean you don’t know? I thought you would understand since he and you seem to have the same outlook on life.”

 

_ What did this guy know? Who does he think he is? I’ve never met anyone like him in my life. _

 

The guy sitting on the eighth note with the guitar was wearing a royal blue jean shirt, a white t-shirt underneath, and black jeans and shoes. He had black short hair that was a little wavy and the expression on his face was always serene and calm expression, no matter what stupid question Baekhyun asked him. It made him look somewhat sleepy and befuddled.

 

Despite the guy looking stoned, Baekhyun chose to answer him. “What do you mean ‘the same outlook on life’? What’s that supposed to mean?” 

 

“Think about it.” Baekhyun was so confused — how was this place so full of people he didn’t know and probably have never seen before in his life, but they almost knew everything about him? How did the first person know his true thoughts about others? How did this guy know how he lived his life? His thoughts were cut short when the guy blew a couple of bubbles and suggested, “But before I answer, why don’t you dry yourself off? You’re soaked to the bone.” 

 

"Uh, sure..." Baekhyun looked over to where the man was pointing and his eyes met a weird sight. A pink blow dryer had its black wire connected to a white outlet; everything was normal-looking until Baekhyun saw the blow dryer and the outlet had little black arms and legs, and the outlet wasn't even connected to the wall, but it was walking on its own. The two living non-living objects were scurrying towards him, ready to offer their services to him, but Baekhyun wasn't very sure they would work.

 

Baekhyun picked up the blow dryer which made it turn on angrily, it's whirring heat almost causing Baekhyun to drop it. Startled, he looked at the blowdryer and it looked defiant — how does a blow dryer even look so sassy? — and its wiry little hand point down towards the ground, demanding Baekhyun to let it go and put it back on the floor. 

 

_ So peculiar...  _

 

The blow dryer got straight to work starting with Baekhyun's shoes and his pants. It worked very fast; usually it would take 20 minutes to dry the inside and outside of his shoes, but the blow dryer was very efficient and didn't waste any time. By 10 minutes, the blow dryer was finishing up on drying his hair without him even holding it (it climbed up his body all by itself, sometimes the outlet hanging off the floor mercilessly, for the wire was too short at times). 

 

"Okay, I'm done," Baekhyun said turning back to the guy on the music note, while the outlet and blow dryer were scuttling away. "What are in your bubbles?" 

 

The man looked up from his notebook and at Baekhyun. "Salvia smoke."

 

"Isn't smoke bad for your health?" So he is high.

 

"Yeah, but I live for an eternity, it doesn't matter. I don't get sick and I don't die. I'm stuck here forever," the man turned back to his notebook, and a look of frustration flooded his face. What was he writing in it? He looked like he was going to throw it into the pool, but in a flash, his calm expression swept over his face again and he faced Baekhyun. "Unlike me, you have too short of a lifetime to spend it all cooped up in your own bubble."

 

Baekhyun looked at the sleeping man underwater. "Why does he get to —"

 

"Look at what happened to him. He's been trapped in his bubble for so long, comfortable and content in his safe-zone... but what happens when he is forced out without will?"

 

Baekhyun thought about it. "He turns into a monster?" 

 

"Not precisely, he didn't necessarily turn into a monster; he was just uncomfortable and his self-defenses went up. When you are in your bubble too long and suddenly you have to step out, you will feel suffocated. That is why he wanted to drown you. He doesn't want to suffer alone. Ah, my poor friend. He will only come out of the water by will if the singer sings for him." 

 

“…” Baekhyun paused for a moment, dumbfounded and at a loss for words. "Is this place where I am stuck going through supposed to teach me a bunch of lessons?"

 

The man shrugged. "It's up to you whether or not you want to learn… Say, what were you doing before you came here? And I mean before you came here, not before you came here. When I say before you came here, I mean before you came here.

"I was going to capture some pictures in the building I walked into," Baekhyun said, hoping his answer was the right one. Maybe the man had meant which room he was in — the room that had mirrors.

"Capture? Are you sure that's the right word? Doesn't capture mean to take captive, to seize? You can't possibly detain a set of pictures." 

"Then what do I say? I took pictures? That's also what people usually say."

"That is also not indubitably agreeable... You didn’t actually grab images from people. Hm, I would say, 'I was going to photograph the objects in the building." 

Baekhyun was confused. Capture a photograph. Take a photograph. Photograph a picture. He shrugged, since it could go either way.

 

Suddenly, the man’s bored eyes sprang to life and lightened up. “Ah! Don't bother me anymore, I have an idea and I don't want to lose it." He grabbed his guitar and started strumming, and then picked up the notebook that seemed to be the cause of all his problems and forgot about Baekhyun as soon as he started scribbling down furiously in the lines of his book. 

 

Baekhyun slowly walked up to the music note platform; only his chin could reach the platform where the man was sitting, so he rested his chin on his hands on the platform as he tried to make out what he was writing in his notebook. 

 

It was a music score. 

 

_ The page was empty just a few seconds ago, not more than a minute ago… how did he manage to write all those notes down? How did he already manage to write down a full page of music? _

 

"Say, I'm almost finished, just give me like another minute, but I know you know how to play the piano," the man insinuated, without looking up from his scrawling. "Why don't we have a piano play-off?"

 

"Uh, I haven't played the piano in a long time, actually," Baekhyun said, to his own relief. The man surely wouldn't want to play with a rusty rookie in a musical showdown.

 

"Huh, that's too bad, but you probably wouldn't want to lug a $200,000 grand piano up here, since I can't leave my spot. Maybe next time — whoops," the musician caught himself, "good thing the knight wasn't here to hear that." He chuckled and smiled, dimples prominent on his cheeks. "You should be on your way, you seem like you don't want to be stuck here."

 

"The thing is, I don't know where I'm supposed to go."

 

“Aish, I’m starting to get frustrated with you, too. Didn’t you see a hole at the bottom of the pool when you fell in?”

 

“No.”

 

“Well, there is one, and you didn’t even have to get out of the pool to move on to the next room. I guess, it taught you an important lesson though. The hole is opposite of the bubble my friend is in; that’s probably why you didn’t see the hole, it was behind you. Make sure you don’t wake him up again.” 

 

“I’m going to get wet again though,” Baekhyun whined.

 

“Oh my goodness, you are such a prissy!! Come here, I’ll make a bubble for you,” the man said, growing impatient each time he had to scold Baekhyun.

 

“What about the smoke?”

 

“You’ll see, it’ll be fine.”

 

The man brought out his bubble blower and blew for a long time, a huge bubble growing from the opening of the bubble blower, and soon Baekhyun’s body was contained in the bubble. A haze was starting to build up from the bottom, getting thicker inside the bubble.

 

“Alright, just jump into the pool and sink to the bottom of the pool. You can go inside the hole from there.”

 

“Thank you, I won’t forget what you’ve taught me,” Baekhyun waved, barely seeing the musician wave back through the fog building up in the bubble.

 

_ Wait, fog?  _

 

_ Wasn’t it supposed to be smoke?  _

 

Baekhyun was already in the water when he realized what the musician had done for him: blowing mist and fog into the bubble instead of the salvia smoke he claimed to inhale. It was too late to thank him for not suffocating him inside the bubble.

 

Baekhyun sunk deeper and deeper into the pool, and he saw the hole, glowing with an alternating white and black light. The fog and the mist grew increasingly thicker until he couldn’t even see anymore as he stepped into the hole, and he could feel himself falling before his bubble burst. 


	5. The Room of Checkers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A checkered room patterned black and white

When the fog and mist cleared, Baekhyun thought he was becoming out of it — maybe the musician really did smoke Salvia in the bubble he blew for him. Everything in Baekhyun’s vision was too bright with a twist of moving black and white, and there was no end to it. He was starting to grow dizzy and a headache was pounding at the back of his head again; there was too much in front of his eyes to process. 

 

When Baekhyun looked carefully, the whole room was checkered, and the excessive usage of the pattern created an illusion, causing him to think he was in a swirling room. Baekhyun looked even more carefully, and he saw there were huge checkers pieces in place, as if there was a game set up to be played. Chess pieces were lined up around the sides, as if they were waiting their turn for a game to start. 

 

Was he supposed to play? There was no one else in the room. How could Baekhyun play when the checkers pieces were wider than the length of his arms outspread? How was he going to carry the pieces across the board? Drag it? Push it? Carry it? Or would it even move itself if he spoke to it and told it where to go? 

 

Baekhyun spotted the exit, but one of the pawns from the chess set was blocking it. Its eyes were covered with its stone hat and it wasn’t even alive, but Baekhyun knew it was watching his every move. It was in a squatted hunched over position, and its arms were crossed over its chest, holding two swords. 

 

Suddenly, a loud and unemotional female voice suddenly resonated throughout the room. “To get out of this room, you must complete the game. Whenever you are ready, you may make the first move.”

 

_ What… _

 

_ Is this really…? How do I do this? Is it like that Harry Potter game? Do I just tell them where to move? Oh wait, that was chess… and those were huge magic chess pieces…  _

 

_ Uhhhh…  _

 

_ I don’t even know how to play checkers actually, only chess…  _

 

“You may make the first move,” the automatic voice repeated.

 

A flustered Baekhyun went over to the nearest checkers piece, a white piece on a black square, and he grunted as he pushed the weighty piece one space forward, into a white square. He gave it one last satisfied kick as he centered it nicely in the space.

 

“Invalid move,” the voice responded.

 

“What?! What do you mean?” Baekhyun squawked out loud, as if the recorded voice would hear him and reply back with an answer.

 

“Invalid move, please recede your piece to the initial starting position,” the voice replied, not answering the question all that much.

 

Baekhyun let out an embarrassed and dissatisfied grunt before picking up the piece and setting it back to the black square it first resided on. 

 

_ So where do I move it? … Maybe sideways?  _

 

He decided it was easier to move it by slowly pushing it with his foot. It didn’t matter how long it took, he was probably playing with a computer anyway — a computer that can magically move its pieces… that doesn’t even make sense, how come the other side can probably move like that, but Baekhyun’s side can’t? He was beginning to grow increasingly frustrated. Baekhyun pushed the piece to a white square, so it become white on white again. Satisfied he was able to push it the right side of the black square, he was sure he made the right move this time. 

 

“Invalid move.”

 

Baekhyun felt like he was going to burst. “OH NAH, FORGET THIS!!!!!” He kicked the checkers piece as hard as he could with defiance, but it just earned him a now sore and throbbing toe, which would hinder his dramatic stomping as he started towards the pawn blocking the door — so much for a cool exit.

 

Several and numerous steps soon had him face-to-face with the stone white chess pawn. “Move,” Baekhyun said, trying to shoo the statue with an exaggerating motion played out with his hands. “Shoo. Get lost.”

 

“To get out of this room, you must complete the game,” the detached female voice called out through the invisible loudspeaker.

 

Baekhyun let out an exasperated groan. “AISH, SCREW THIS!” The pawn wasn’t going to hurt him, it was a statue for crying out loud, what would it do to him? Nothing! (However, he had to admit the swords crossed over its chest made him a lot more intimidating than it was cut out to be.)

 

Since the pawn was completely covering the way to the door and he wouldn’t be able to move around it to get to the door, Baekhyun climbed on top of the figurine, stood up and jumped down. He was now in front of the door when words appeared on the it:

 

“You’re hopeless, so we’re letting you go.”

 

Baekhyun blushed furiously at the ill-mannered message before straightening himself out.  _ Psh! It’s okay, I won’t see this room again after I push past the door.  _ And with that, Baekhyun took hold of of the door handle, turned it, and pushed the door open, only to be blinded by a bright white light.


	6. The Room of Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadows with sight lurking without light

When Baekhyun stepped inside, he was squinting, trying to get used to the bright white room. The whole room was white: the floor, the ceilings, and the walls — it was similar to the rooms on the second floor of the art exhibit, except it was a brighter, larger, and newer-looking room and it had a single light bulb, hanging from a wire in the middle of the ceiling. There were no furniture in sight and the room looked so plain at first look. However, as Baekhyun grew used to the light, he saw there were semi-curved black slits all over the room, even on the floor, as if a bandit ran his knife over the walls and lifted it before the line became too long. 

 

Baekhyun spotted the door across the room and quickly went over, avoiding the slightly bumpy slits on the floor. He turned the knob of the door, but it didn’t budge and the door wouldn’t open. 

 

**LOCKED.**

 

Baekhyun looked around and now noticed there was a person lying on the floor in the middle of the room, dressed all in white — white cloak, white pants, white shoes. The light was clearly shining on him, and everything was too white… everything looked like it was missing something… Was the person there before and Baekhyun was just too unobservant or blinded by the bright lighting of the room? However, Baekhyun noticed there was a gold glint on the person’s chest. 

 

He tiptoed over, since the person seemed to be asleep and he did not want to wake the stranger up. The boy was sleeping on his side, with his hands underneath his head to cushion it from the hard floor. As he got closer, he saw, just as he suspected, the golden glimmer he had seen was a key strapped around the neck of the still and unmoving person. 

 

_ Oh man, how am I supposed to get the key from him now? The clasp is actually in the front, so I can easily unhook the necklace and take the key… _

 

Baekhyun walked slowly and made sure he didn’t trip over one of the many bumpy slits on the floor. When he reached the person, he immediately bent down, reaching for the clasp, until he finally looked at the person’s face. 

 

He was sleeping with one eye open.

 

And that eye was looking straight at him.

 

“AHHHH!!!” Baekhyun jumped back in surprise only to land on a hard but jelly-like surface. 

 

“SHIT, OW!!” It was apparent that the boy on the floor was now awake, as he sat up immediately and yelled out in pain. His hands were covering the eye that was wide open when he was sleeping. Baekhyun instantaneously leaped off whatever he was on — he just knew it wasn’t the floor. 

 

“What the hell is that?!” Baekhyun shouted at the stranger, pointing at the structure on the floor. It was shut tightly again.

 

“THAT’S MY EYE!!!”

 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT’S YOUR EYE, WHAT IS IT DOING ON THE FLOOR?! HOW IS THAT HUGE THING YOUR EYE?!” The diameter of the eye was probably as long as Baekhyun’s outstretched arms.

 

“All the eyes in the room are mine! Except yours that is.” 

 

“WHAT ARE THEY DOING EMBEDDED IN THE WALLS, THE FLOOR, THE CEILING!!!” Baekhyun shouted, exaggeratedly pointing at each thing as he listed them. He took a better look at the eye behind him, which was now open, and he saw a red unshaped spot, slowly growing bigger around the brown iris. “OH MY GOD, THERE’S BLOOD ON THE EYE!!!” 

 

“Yeah, I guess you popped a blood vessel on my eye,” the boy said, standing up. Removing his hand from his eye, Baekhyun could see it looked exactly like the one on the floor (just a miniature version to properly fit his face somewhat). Baekhyun was surprised to see this boy was actually shorter than him, while the first guy he met was taller, and the musician was sitting on a 6 feet high structure. Brushing himself off, and trying to smooth out his cloak, the boy scolded, “And calm down, geez, I’m not going to murder you or anything, my eye is going to be fine.” 

 

“S-sorry, it was an accident… I was just trying to get out of here and you startled me,” 

 

“It’s okay, it will heal in a few weeks, it doesn’t hurt anymore. I can’t even feel the blood,” the guy laughed a little, trying to ease Baekhyun. "Sorry for startling you; sleeping with one eye open is a sleeping habit I've had since I was a child. But you could've just asked for the key instead of trying to sneak around and steal it."

 

Baekhyun could feel his face becoming red from embarrassment. "Y-yeah, I guess. I didn't want to wake you up, you know," he said, trying to reason with the guy and himself. 

 

"Oh man, that's an excuse. In truth, you were too scared to wake me up, right?" The boy asked, poking Baekhyun in the chest. "How did you even get here... He must have used the sloth method, huh..." the boy mumbled the last part to himself, his voice trailing off.

 

Baekhyun took a long look at the boy before he noticed, like on the white walls of the room, there was a closed eye on the center of the back of the boy’s hand. “T-there’s eyes on your hands, too?”  _ What was this guy? Was he human? _

 

The guy’s already unnaturally wide eyes widened even more with surprise. “Of course! In fact they are all over my body,” he said, lifting up the sleeve of his white cloak, revealing more eyes, closed and resting, just like the rest of the room. 

 

Baekhyun didn’t want to ask. After the water phantom, he definitely knew he was in a dream, but dreamland or not, it was probably rude to ask about things like that. In reality, it was rude to ask about other people’s bodies. Baekhyun chose not to judge the man in front of him anymore, because of the musician’s lesson.

 

The boy took off his cloak and threw it on the ground, extending his arms to show Baekhyun the full view. There were much more lines on the guy’s arms; Baekhyun counted almost about ten in total. When he was about to finish counting, all of the eyes on the man’s body shot open, staring ahead at first, then landing its sight on Baekhyun’s face. 

 

Baekhyun felt everything multiply. Not only were the eyes on the guy’s arms staring at him, but the whole room now had eyes of different sizes, staring at him. There would probably be more if the man were to show him his stomach and his legs, but Baekhyun was definitely not going to ask to make that happen.

 

“If it makes you feel uncomfortable, I can shut them all closed again,” the multi-eyed man asked innocently. In fact, the man looked like a teenager, a child. His heart shaped lips and wide eyes were sickening in Baekhyun’s stomach; did this guy exist in reality? He looked far too innocent to be stuck in this world — this weird, weird world. 

 

“… Yeah… I think I would like that,” Baekhyun tried to request politely, and everything closed shut. Only one pair of wide eyes was looking at him now. “Now, you said before I could ask you, so can I have the key?” Baekhyun asked.

 

“The key only opens that door,” the boy said, pointing at the door across the room, the door that Baekhyun first tiptoed over to, “and that door is not your way out.”

 

“”Really? Can I still see what’s behind it?” He became curious.  _ What else would it be if it didn’t lead to the way out? Could it be a regular closet?  _

 

Baekhyun chastised himself in his head, saying he should know better than think anything in this world would be normal. He should’ve been reminded with the guy in front of him having about four eyes on his right arm and five on the left. 

 

“It’s just my shadow, but I really don’t think you would want to see it.”

 

The guy could see realization strike across Baekhyun’s face and then an intrigued glint settling in his eyes; he could tell straight away, one look at Baekhyun’s expression, he was dying to know. “Oh, so that’s what’s missing. I was wondering why the room looked so white and bright, there’s no darkness at all in this room. Even my shadow is gone! How do you trap your shadow in your room?”

 

“I think the question is not “How”, but “Why”,” the wide-eyed man said a little anxiously. He took off the necklace from around his neck and walked past Baekhyun to the door, the photographer following in close pursuit behind him. He then turned around to him and held out the key. “Here, you’re the one who is curious, why don’t you open it?”

 

Baekhyun took the key in his hand, but the boy interrupted him before he could open the door. "However, as soon as you see teeth, you must close the door immediately." Baekhyun nodded profusely, inserted the key into the keyhole of the door, and turned it. What first met his eyes was darkness, nothing but a never-ending black. Baekhyun couldn’t even see the end of the room or closet or whatever the space was called; it just looked like a vacuum, an outer space without stars. He couldn’t see what was wrong with this room and why the man was so anxious to open the door for him.

 

Then all at once, a thousand of dull red eyes stared at him, stared at his entire being, stared into his soul, and Baekhyun could feel his blood freezing all over again with his hair standing up on its edges. What replaced the non-existent stars were malicious eyes, and they weren’t doing anything except staring back. Baekhyun wanted to call for the multi-eyed man, but nothing was leaving his throat. Long rows of white sharp teeth were starting to show, forming a smile at Baekhyun, and he felt more scared than ever. It wasn’t a smile of friendliness, it was more of an “Ooo-is-that-dinner?” smile.

 

“This is your shadow?” Baekhyun squeaked over his shoulder, not daring to turn his whole body, the sound of his voice being barely audible. He didn’t want the shadows to hear; it was only meant for the man behind him to hear.

 

“Shh! Don’t say anything, and they won’t come out of the closet. If they do come out, they could slice through your body and decapitate you. I’ll close the door,” the multi-eyed man furiously whispered, sputtering out the sentences as quickly as he can. Slowly, he stepped around to the front of Baekhyun gently, gently, gently teetered the door shut. He was almost about to close the door.

 

Suddenly, the shadows shot out with full force against the door, not wanting to be stuck there for who knows how long again, but the white cloaked boy was able to stop the door from flying open. To his horror, Baekhyun could hear slicing wood being shed from the other side of the door. “OH GOD, HELP, PUSH THE DOOR, HELP ME PUSH THE DOOR!” the boy bellowed. After a few seconds of processing what was going on before him, Baekhyun slammed his body into the door, which helped back the shadows up into the room again. They pushed harder and harder, grunting and heaving, until they were able to fully shut the door.

 

After catching his breath, the boy turned to Baekhyun, “I am so sorry, I thought they wouldn’t be upset anymore. It’s been a while since I last trapped them in there, I thought they would have forgotten about it all already.”

 

“Why would you lock them in if you knew it would upset them like that?” Baekhyun asked, still catching his breath. That was crazy.

 

“It’s kind of a long story.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

The boy sighed. “They killed the last person that came here, and that had been centuries ago. I detached myself from my shadows, because it wanted to be free; it followed me everywhere and I felt pity for it. The girl who came by here and my shadows got along pretty well at first, but then something happened when I wasn’t there to see and I came back to the girl being sliced through by my shadows.” The boy’s face contorted and he furrowed his eyebrows in grief. “I couldn’t face them anymore to the point where I was driven mad by guilt, so therefore I decided to lock them up behind that door.”

 

“That’s — that’s awful,” Baekhyun said, sympathetic. He thought about what would have happened if the boy was not there to jump in front of him… he probably would have been “Shadow Slice” in a matter of minutes. “Thanks.”

 

“For what?”

 

“For saving me. Even though you were still scared of your own shadow, you stepped in front of me before they could impale me. Sorry for prying you to open the door,” Baekhyun said, apologetically. 

 

“I could have said no if I wanted to, but I put you in danger instead. I’m sorry, too,” the boy added. He sat down, pretzel-legged, before he covered his legs with this cloak again. He then motioned for Baekhyun to sit down in front of him, and so he did.

 

“Wait, so if that’s the only door here, where is the way out?” Baekhyun asked, pointing at the door where the shadows were trapped. There’s no way the exit would be behind the shadows; that would be suicide. 

 

“I know what you are thinking; no, it’s not behind the shadows. The shadows live in absolute darkness, in a space vacuum where there is no light. They cease to exist until light from this room floods inside that door,” the boy explained. “The way is actually so easy and simple: all you have to do is close your eyes and think of a way out of here.”

 

“That was it?”

 

Nod.

 

“Are you serious?”

 

Nod. 

 

“Really?”

 

“Sorry, it’s just — it’s been a while since anyone came here, and I kind of enjoyed your company, I didn’t want you to just pass this room by like it was another obstacle course. Yeah, it was my fault you almost got hurt, but it was really nice talking to you.” Baekhyun saw a look of hurt and pure sadness in the boy’s eyes, and they gleamed with so much truth and brimmed with unshed tears, and Baekhyun could almost feel his heart being wrenched out of his chest. 

 

“Sorry I have to leave… leave you alone with those shadows… but I have to get back to where I’m from. I don’t know where this place is, where I am, so I need to continue this journey to get out. If I find out I can’t get out, I’ll come back for you, and I’ll stay with you and be your friend.” He didn’t know what made him say these things to a person he had just met but he knew he meant every single word of it. The boy’s eyes eased a little with a numbing sight of dejection and despair. 

 

“My eyes say everything, right? They can be read like an open book,” the boy said, shamefully. “If you ever need to find something, something you are unsure of, you can see everything in a person’s eyes. I guess this can be the lesson of this place.” 

 

Baekhyun smiled weakly. “Thanks. I’ll get going now.” 

 

…

 

“Wait.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why can’t you just come with me?”

 

The boy smiled a small and broken smile before he replied, “Because I can’t. If I had to live a life without my shadow, it would have to be in darkness. A shadow is formed when a light is cast on an object, and I can’t have them follow me wherever I go. I’m sorry. Shut your eyes and think of the place you want go next, you should get going now.”

 

Before he closed his eyes, he saw the boy waving, and all the eyes on his body and in the room were wide open, and in all of them, he could see goodbyes being said. But the one he saw that had the truest meaning were the ones on the boy’s face, the only eyes he would hope to see if he ever saw the boy in the real world.

 

And when he opened his eyes, all he saw were doors.


	7. The Room of Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thousands of doors you have to walk past

_ Mahogany?  _

 

_ Oak? _

 

_ Birch? _

 

Baekhyun found himself facing rows and rows and columns and columns of doors, all different colors, different woods, but the same frame size. It looked highly neat and organized.

 

_ Is this room part of a door manufacturing company? Is this what I like to dream about? Why would a bunch of doors be in a huge room like this? _

 

_ Would one of these doors get me out?  _ He walked to a door that was black, and around it, it had an ominous feeling; but no way, he's just going to see the door behind it when he turns the knob and pushes the door.

 

Baekhyun was pleased to find the door was not locked, but the knob felt weird, how it was not completely solid like a normal door handle; it was a little squishy and meaty. Baekhyun turned it and found himself staring at a cave with rows of sharp rocks, running from the top, along the sides, and across the bottom. It reminded him of shark teeth.

 

Baekhyun was continuing to stand and stare at the cave, not believing what he was seeing instead of the white door behind this one, when gust of wind blew towards him from the cave; it smelled wretched and disgusting. And then the wind blew back into the cave, as if it was a vacuum, willing to suck him inside. 

 

_ Almost as if it was a huge monster breathing... _

 

A loud roar ripped across the air, and almost instantly Baekhyun felt his eardrums shatter. The rest of the room shook and he could feel his body almost being lifted off the ground; it felt like a magnitude 11 earthquake. His ears felt like a bomb blew up in his head and everything he was supposed to hear was now a numb drone. When he was finally able to ground himself, he grabbed the door and slammed the door to shut it closed.

 

His ears felt like a needle was embedded deep in his canal and the worst part of it was he knew it wouldn't go away. Feeling his ears, something warm and wet met his fingers and when he brought it in front of his face, a red color almost made him faint. 

 

_ Was it possible to feel this much pain in a dream? Am I going to be deaf when I wake up? _

 

"Fuck!" Baekhyun could feel his mouth move to say the words, but the sound did not greet his ears. And he was sure he screamed the word out loud.

 

_ No way, no way, no way. _

 

_ This happens to other people, not to me. I'm not that unlucky! _

 

There’s got to be a way that I can fix this, this is a dream after all, how could I have forgotten, while meeting all these people that this was a dream!! Why am I not waking up yet? Maybe another door will help… 

 

Baekhyun willed his feet to drag him three doors to the right and four doors down, where there was a fairly normal looking door, one that could be found as the entrance to a neighbor’s house. One that was welcoming to knock on; maybe a hospitable person would open the door and help him and make him feel better about this whole ordeal.

 

But when he knocked no one came, and the door was unlocked, so he decided to walk in anyway. 

 

The door led to a house, or more like a highly furnished and expensive looking mansion, but instead of warm and welcoming colors greeting him, dusky and ominous blue darkness filled the hallway in front of him. From the look of the windows, a rainstorm was occurring in the night and it would not be pleasant to go outside — if he could even find the way out of the place that is. Vibrations and flashes of lightning indicated there was loud and crumbling thunder, but he still could not hear.

 

Baekhyun looked behind him to make sure the door was still there, and it was; he was able to see the blue door that was across from this  _ homey _ door.  _ Looks can be deceiving _ was the quote that rang across his head; the door looked so welcoming, as if it would lead to a small and warm honey-colored cottage, but inside it was a gloomy and mysterious mansion… and somehow, something did not seem right.

 

Baekhyun was walking down the long corridor, tired feet dragging across the velvet carpet, when all of a sudden, a flash of lightning lights up the hallway, and he could see the words “GET OUT” written in smeared blood, on the wall at the end of the hall. 

 

Horror struck his face, and he was almost frozen in his spot, already halfway down the hallway, when all he wanted to do was run for the door, from which he came from. The rooms that these doors led to were not at all good, and he wasn’t sure this time how he could get out of the Room of Doors if he was too scared to go through another door again. 

 

A dark figure appeared at the end of the hallway under the blood-written words. Although he couldn’t see well in the dark, Baekhyun could see the person just standing there, as if he/she was waiting for something.

 

Another bolt of lightning crashed outside and Baekhyun could see the word “RUN” was now written across the wall behind the masked man, who had blood on his clothes and was now running towards him, brandishing a chainsaw in the air.

 

“OH MY GOD,” Baekhyun screamed as he turned around and ran as hard he he could. He thought he ran the fastest he had ever in his life and he thought he was going to make it through the door, when a bump in the carpet (which he was sure was not there before) managed to trip him. He was literally a foot from the open door, and all his hopes to escape vanished before him when he felt a dark presence and vibrations hovering over him.

 

He was glad for a moment that he could not hear the whirring of the chainsaw, or the cold, cruel laughter coming out of his attacker’s mouth.

 

But he could not bear the pain and had to scream out when the chainsaw came into contact with his mid-calf; he thought he was going to black out from the pain, and if he didn’t he would black out from the horrid mask he was seeing when he turned around onto his back in attempt to stop the man. 

 

There was blood dripping down the man’s chin, and Baekhyun didn’t know how he knew, but there were spikes inside the mask, probably embedded into the man’s eyes and face. The mask, which was supposed to be white, was a smudged crimson and scarlet, even on the outside, now the same color as the blade on the chainsaw, but with different blood. 

 

Baekhyun used all his strength and the last of his courage to use his good leg and kick the crazy and bloody man off of him, before he turned back onto his stomach and used his arms to drag the rest of his body out the door and back into the Room of Doors. He could barely turn back around or look over his shoulder when he saw the door had closed and the man was no longer holding a chainsaw to his leg. 

 

His vision was starting to become blurry, but he didn’t care if he was going blind anymore; what he saw was the blue door across the mansion door had opened and fuzzy white pop-out letters written right in front of him read: 

 

**“Hurry, hurry! Take him inside, he’s losing blood!!”**

 

A fuzzy outline of a person dressed in white with brown pants and dark shoes made his way towards Baekhyun and other vibrations of feet moved towards him as he descended into a darkness that was more comforting than the one in the mansion. 

 

===

 

When he awoke, Baekhyun could feel a buzzing in his ears; it was a little uncomfortable, so it was probably what shook him awake. He could feel he was on a hospital type of bed. When he first opened his eyes, he saw more and more floating white words forming right in front of him as the man moved his lips, saying:

 

**“You're awake... Don’t move, and don’t be scared. I’m here to help.”**

 

**“Don’t be scared of the words either, they’re just subtitles since you are deaf right now.”**

**“They will disappear in a second.”**

 

And it was a second before Baekhyun would hear the whizzing of a small mechanical instrument inside one of his ears. The person walked around the table, around Baekhyun’s head, to the other ear. It took about ten seconds before Baekhyun could hear in the other ear, too.

 

Baekhyun quickly sat up to face the person in front of him. He was an old looking man, maybe in his 50s-60s and he had a white doctor’s coat on. “What did you just do to me?” Baekhyun demanded to know.

 

“I fixed your hearing!! And your leg, too. It had quite a nasty gash there,” the man said, eyes twinkling. “Good thing I saw you as soon as you exited from that door. You probably would have died from blood loss if I came out an hour later.”

 

Baekhyun looked down at his leg to see that it was perfectly fine. Almost as if nothing had happened to it in the first place. “Y-you… healed me? But how?” He was so sure he felt like his leg was going to split off, bone and flesh, from his body. 

 

The man shushed him, quietly. “It’s a secret.” 

 

"Wasn't there someone else here? I think before I blacked out, you called out for someone to help you take me inside..."

 

"An, yes, that was my young man who is a friend of mine. He teleported you inside here which was quite effective." Teleport? Was it the man who Baekhyun met in the Room of Mirrors?

 

"Ah, I wish I could tell him thank you." Baekhyun spotted that the door was open and a round of fresh fear washed over him. "Can't you close the door? The man with a chainsaw might come through again and attack both of us," he timidly asked. 

 

"Man with a chainsaw?" The doctor asked scratching his head.

 

"He had a mask covering his face."

 

"That was not a man! That was a robot! A humanoid, a machine programmed to act and look like a human," the doctor explained. "Actually, the blood may or may not have been real though... I've seen it dripping from his face and off his clothes before..."

 

Baekhyun gulped loudly, trying to contain his uneasiness.

 

The man walked over to a metal cabinet that was against the white walls of the room, and when he came back over to Baekhyun, he handed him a lollipop. “Well, our appointment is pretty much done, you’re as good as new!! I hope I don’t have to see you back here again. Whether it’d be for physical or mental trauma, just make sure you don’t have to come back. Try not to get hurt the rest of the journey, I mean it,” the old man told him sternly.

 

Baekhyun was too stunned to say anything, and he was just kind of dumbly holding his lollipop while still sitting on the side of the bed. But then, he just nodded.

 

“Alright, then go on and get outta here,” the doctor said, before giving him a curt nod and exiting out a door opposite from the door leading to the Room of Doors. 

 

“Stranger and stranger and stranger…” Baekhyun muttered to himself before getting off the bed and making his way towards the door. “I didn’t even get to say thank you…” He walked out of the blue door and quietly closed it behind him, before sighing and moving on to decide which door he should go through next. He stuffed the lollipop in his pocket, not in the mood to eat it at the moment.

 

Baekhyun walked through the rows and rows of doors, even passing by a nice red one.  _ ‘I’m not going to trust the color red after all that blood gushing out of my leg,’ _ he thought as he shuddered at the thought of what happened to him merely hours (or how long has it been?) before. 

 

He passed a bunch of shades of greens, and browns, and yellows, and purples, before he came across a beige door. On closer inspection, it was a magnificent door, one carved out of marble. It looked like it could lead to a Greek god's temple or perhaps the Supreme Court of Justice. 

 

What if there were more things behind the door that would harm him?

 

He can't stay here forever. Baekhyun thought about it and if he didn't find a way out through one of these doors and stayed put in this room, he would probably be stuck here forever. Baekhyun wondered if he attempted to commit suicide in the real world, but ended up alive and slipped into a coma. What if he had to escape from this place in order to wake up from this dream? If it made sense... He probably would rather be miserable in the real world than confused in this strange one. 

 

But then again, it was more interesting here.

 

But then again, many things have almost killed him here. Death was starting to scare him a little.

 

_ I'm going to open this one. _

 

He pushed open the marble door and stepped into a beautiful scene of flowers, blue skies, white clouds, and a paved pathway. Two birds flew across the way and he was sure he heard a flute playing somewhere in the background. He was in a garden.

 

Baekhyun was more than half assured this place was safe, but he had some doubts about whether or not a garden monster would jump out. He did however hear some live chatter, but he didn't see people; somehow though, he felt a presence in the garden that did not make him lonely. 

 

He walked down the marble path, and it felt so peaceful, Baekhyun felt like it was the right place to be. He looked behind him and saw the door was still there, still intact — a way to escape if this place wasn't what he made it out to be. 

 

The flowers on the side of the path were beautiful, and he wondered why no one else was here to admire it all. However, as he continued walking, he realized there  _ were  _ people, but they just weren't tangible. He noticed there were clouds of white spots, blocking his view of the flowers as he walked, and he slowed down to get a glimpse of what it was. As he examined, he saw the white spots were silhouettes of people, or to be more accurate, couples. The spots were leaning in on each other and laughing, too intimate to just be people who didn't know each other. He could tell some couples were boy/girl, boy/boy, girl/girl.

 

Why were they white spaces like that? They didn't even notice Baekhyun, a solo wanderer, walking down the marble path by himself. Could it be this couple garden existed in the real world, too? That this place could be shared by two alternate universes, but the people could not take part in interaction with a different world?

 

If this was the case, Baekhyun would love to see this place with his own eyes and take pictures of it when he's awake.

 

He realized this was not the way he could progress forward in this journey, and that he had no business in a flower garden dedicated to the beauty of couples and love and all that crap. He turned around and headed for the door, thankful that nothing had attacked him.

 

Back in the Room of Doors, Baekhyun decided that he would pick whatever door was two rows down and 6 columns across. He could make up whatever number he wanted like 88 rows and 61 columns since this room seemed so endless, but he decided he did not want to walk that far. He would open whatever door was there and explore it, as long as it didn't seem as dangerous as the first and second ones.

 

When he reached his pre-decided destination, a glass door was in his way. It was made of clear glass, but it seemed as though the other side of the door was plastered up with white paper; he couldn't see anything on the other side. 

 

When he opened the door, he expected to step into one of those empty white rooms, like the ones he first went through in the art gallery, but he found himself in a bright and healthily green meadow with cut grass, no wild flowers in sight, but a paved road splitting it in half. Baekhyun tried to look where the road and the meadow ended, but it seemed like it went on forever, disappearing into the cloudless blue sky.

 

What was he supposed to do here?

 

Baekhyun turned around, only to see that the door had disappeared.


	8. The Taxi Driver and the Unmoving Taxi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a taxi that seems like it's driving way too fast

He could've panicked, he would've panicked, and he probably should've panicked, but he didn't. He just felt there was something different about this place than the other rooms. Probably the door disappearing meant that he was advised not to turn back, but to continue onwards. 

 

What was he supposed to do here? The road stretched both in front of him and behind him, and it looked like he would have to walk for miles and miles and miles on end before he could decide whether or not he went the right way.

 

He could see everything from where he was standing, so if something was coming his way, he would know a few minutes beforehand (however, he had absolutely nowhere to hide and he thought of the possibility of a monster or psycho killer just materializing right before his eyes). But seen he had, a yellow flash down the road darting his way. It was merely seconds before it arrived (although had seen it from probably 100 miles away) and Baekhyun realized it was actually a taxi. And there was a normal looking person driving it.

 

The window of the driver's seat was rolled down. "Hey, want a ride? Get in!!" The cab driver urged Baekhyun. The door on the driver's side automatically opened, and Baekhyun, figuring out it was probably safe, got in. The windows on the right side of the car was blocked off with the same white sheets as the glass door he entered to this place. "Where to?" 

 

The first thing Baekhyun noticed was blonde hair. He was already so pale, but the blonde still looked good on him. It was almost a pink and white-blonde, but Baekhyun was unsure and thought he was starting to go colorblind, so he decided it didn't matter anymore because the next thing that he noticed were sharp eyes and slightly chubby cheeks. The guy kind of reminded him of a hamster.

 

"I don't really know any places here, but since I'm dreaming, I could probably go anywhere I want right?" Baekhyun asked, more asking aloud to himself than the driver.

 

"Dreaming? Who told you you were dreaming?" The driver asked, with huge surprise written across his face and etched in his voice. 

 

"But I am, aren't I? This place can't be real."

 

"Of course this place is real! Just because you aren't in your world, doesn't mean you can say other people's worlds are just something your unconscious puny mind made up!! Talk about self-centered."

 

"Nonono, I'm so sorry, I just didn't know other worlds existed," Baekhyun tried to reason with the driver. "I just want to go home..." 

 

"Oh, in that case," the driver pulled the lever and turned his keys in the ignition and started driving. 

 

"You can bring me home?!" Baekhyun asked with so much hope, that he could've brought unicorns back to life for all the children who believed. 

 

"No."

 

Baekhyun's heart shattered along with all his hopes and dreams. 

 

"Think about it this way. Once you exit this room, it's one step closer to your destination."

 

"This is a single room? Wow, it must be huge."

 

"It's not as big as you think. You make it sound as if it's as big as a baseball stadium or something."

 

"It looks bigger than that!! You're able to drive for miles through this room."

 

"Uh, sure," the driver answered a little unsurely. "Whatever keeps you functioning." At this point, the driver was 160% sure Baekhyun was not from this world. "So, what made you think this place was a dream?"

 

"I don't know, man," he started, "I was knocked out at an art exhibit, and then I'm awake in a room full of mirrors with a guy who teleports and talks in opposites. Then I am dropped into a pool where a water ghost tried to drown me, and a musician who was high, teaching me life lessons. That checkers room and a guy with eyes all over his body, with a shadow trying to impale me. This stuff doesn't happen in real life."

 

The driver pursed his lips.

 

"And then that room of doors, where one led me into a monster's mouth and another in a mansion with a chainsaw killer robot. Now that I think about it, I was almost killed a couple of times."

 

"Good thing you weren't."

 

"Why? How come?"

 

"If you're severely injured in this world and you make it back alive to yours, the injuries here are minor in your world. For example, if your eye is poked out here, in your world, you'll only have worse eyesight in that eye. Another is if you become completely deaf, you'll only experience minor hearing loss. Nothing some specialists can't fix."

 

"Oh, that's great then! If I get hurt, then it won't be so bad."

 

"Yeah, but you have to be careful not to get killed. Once you die here, your existence ceases in all other worlds, including yours."

 

"Just kidding, I lied, this is terrible," Baekhyun countered his previous careless statement.

 

"What I'm telling you is be careful. There are so many people here who like to play tricks on outsiders here. My best friend, he likes pranking people with his brother. And they do it just for the pure fun of it. Be careful."

 

_ Life Lessons 101 With A Taxi Driver You've Never Met Before. _

 

"But anyways, from your progress report, it sounds like you're not even halfway through this place, if your goal is to leave."

 

Baekhyun groaned internally. Then he decided now was an alright time to shut up and look out the window. 

 

Everything was a blur of colors.

 

He couldn't distinguish what was earth and what was sky.

 

"Hey hey hey, slow down will ya?" Baekhyun leaned forward and peeked over the driver's shoulder to look at the speedometer. 

 

What? 0 mph?

 

Baekhyun quickly opened the window a little and felt wind rushing past. The taxi was definitely speeding down the road.

 

"What are you talking about? The taxi isn't moving. It was never moving."

 

Disbelief washed over Baekhyun's face. Then he almost laughed. "No, you're lying to me. 

You're one of those people who like to play tricks, aren't you? We're still moving. The wind is even blowing. Please, don't lie. Outside the window, the sky and the meadow... we're passing by!!" Baekhyun insisted. He was so positive this car had been moving the whole time.

 

The taxi driver sighed. "Look outside the window  _ properly _ . We're in a room. I didn't understand why you were saying the room was bigger than a baseball stadium; this room is like a regular room found in a house. You'll see there's a moving panorama on the side," he said, shaking his head. "Why do you think the right side of the taxi is covered with white sheets?"

 

Baekhyun opened the door and stepped out of the car and sure enough, there was a moving panorama on one side of the empty white room. It was an empty white room like the rest of the  empty white rooms in the beginning. The wind was caused by a huge fan strongly blowing on the side of the car.

 

"You've got to be kidding me," Baekhyun deadpanned. "Then where's the exit?" 

 

"Look to your right, fool."

 

And a door was there.

 

"You gotta be more observant, gosh. I don't know how you managed to survive this far with that attention span," the driver mumbled. "However, It  _ was _ pretty fun making a driving scene with you, and I'm glad I helped by providing you with some information, at least. 

 

"Yeah, thanks. If you didn't tell me about dying here, I probably would've died thinking I would be brought back to life in another room. Thanks, man." Baekhyun walked towards the door on the right and his hands closed around the handle.

 

It all happened so fast.

 

"Wait, before you go—"

 

Baekhyun opened the door, and stuck his foot inside, at the same time, turning around to see what was up with the driver, not looking exactly what he was stepping into. "Ye—"

 

"BE CAREFUL!!" 

 

Baekhyun's foot met nothing but air and he realized he had nothing to grip on before he was sent screaming and tumbling down into nothing but darkness.


	9. The Room of Elements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiles of earth, air, water, and fire

Baekhyun crashed down through a vent, landing himself butt-first into yet  _ another _ white room. Now lying on his back, everything hurting, especially his rear end, he was looking up at the vent from which he came from, the covering hanging off the hinge. 

 

Well, he can’t reach it to close it now, nonetheless, go back up the vent and escape.

 

_ The Disadvantages of Being A Shorty  _ a novel by Byun Baekhyun.

 

He got up, despite the burning in his buttocks, and he spotted four tiles, forming a square grid in the center of one of the walls of the room. On close inspection, the tiles each had a symbol on it; earth, air, water, fire. 

 

Words started forming, as if invisible hands were writing the inscriptions underneath each of the tiles simultaneously. As each letter was being written, it turned from a fiery gold to an inky black.

 

Earth: The Earth has music for those who listen

Air: Wind never passes by the same place

Water: Is your head underwater?

Fire: The flame of life or the blaze of destruction?

 

What was he supposed to do with these tiles? He turned away from the tiles and walk around the room to see if there were any clues left behind, or if a person was painted into the wall, and was waiting for the right moment to scare him — he  _ had _ been warned about people liking to play pranks in this world. 

 

Nope, nothing. There was nothing in this room; it was empty, except for the tiles on the wall. 

 

Baekhyun walked back to the tiles and decided he should probably play around with it or something. He felt that the air tile had the best-looking design and decided to poke the tile.

 

It slightly sunk into the wall.

 

Was he supposed to push these tiles?

 

He poked it again.

 

And it sunk in again.

 

What to do?

 

He decided ‘Aw, what the heck?’ and decided to forcefully push the Air Tile back into the wall. All of a sudden, Baekhyun felt a flurry of wind rustling his hair, and he thought that would be the end of it. Then, a gust of wind, coming from the tile, was so strong, Baekhyun’s neck was forced to look away from the wall before it became stronger and his body was thrown across the room and into the opposite wall. 

 

When Baekhyun regained consciousness after a few lost seconds, he found himself slumped on the floor against the wall and groaned from the pain seeping into the back of his head and his spine, and the added discomfort to his tailbone. Standing up again and attempting to stretch his back, he looked around if anything changed and if a new entrance appeared.

 

Nothing. Not even a ladder for the vent. However, if Baekhyun wanted at least one change, the Air Tile’s disappearance would be good news. Baekhyun didn’t know what to make of that, though. 

 

He walked up to the tiles again and looked closely at the remaining descriptions, which had changed again.

 

Earth: The earth is what we all have in common

Water: Do you feel like a fish out of water?

Fire:  Love is like friendship caught on fire

 

What would the Earth Tile do if he pushed it back? After being blown across the room, he didn’t really want to find out by being crushed by two plateaus or something. The water tile would probably have water gushing out and drowning Baekhyun before he could learn how to swim. After the driver’s words, he didn’t really want to take a risk.

 

“Love is like friendship caught on fire.” He was looking at the Fire Tile. Despite the benevolent description, he was imagining a fire vortex swallowing him up into ashes and all, when a deep voice interrupted his thoughts, “I think I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, it’s not a good idea; better not push the Fire Tile.” 

 

Baekhyun’s head whipped around to find a really tall guy with dark hair and ears that were sticking out just a little bit, kind of reminding Baekhyun of an elf somewhat. He was sporting black skinny jeans, gray sneakers, and a gray camouflage hoodie with multiple flags on it, including the South Korean flag. He looked so normal. 

 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t press it if I were you,” the man said, again.

 

Taking a longer look at him, Baekhyun was starting to think he looked pretty handsome but his thoughts were shaken with a bright  _ WARNING! _ sign flashing in his head and questions popping up such as,  _ ‘Where did he come from?’ There were no doors, and he had not heard any thud if the guy were to fall through to the room from the vent from the ceiling. ‘Who exactly is he?’ ‘Does he know about this particular room?’ _

 

“Who are you? How did you get here?” 

 

“My name is Chanyeol, and I’m pretty sure my job is to help you in this world.” 

 

Huh, interesting. “Ah, how do I know I could trust you? How come you give me your name right away, while the others I’ve met don’t mention their name at all? Except the first guy, he mentioned his name, but I didn’t even get to hear it.” 

 

“It’s hard to say… and the first guy does whatever is opposite of the regular here, because he does everything in opposites.” 

 

_ Right. _

 

“In any case, whether you like it or not, I’m going to have to stick with you, because you’re stuck here, in a world where there are people who play tricks and have different unique abilities. It’s my job to help you get out.”

 

“Who sent you to help me?” Baekhyun asked, a quarter thankful, a quarter relieved, but still half doubtful.

 

“No one, this is my room. When I saw you, I had a feeling I had to protect you and stop you from pressing the tile… But just trust me, I know a lot of information about this place as a whole.”

 

Baekhyun was laying out his choices. Keep travelling alone and higher the risks of dying without getting out, or trusting this stranger tall elf who seems to know a lot of information about this foreign land.  

 

“Alright… anyways…”

 

Baekhyun turned back around to find there were only two tiles left on the wall; where did the Fire Tile go if he didn’t press it? Baekhyun tried to feel the place where the tile had been, but only felt the smooth white wall, as if the tile had never been there. The area where the Air Tile had been looked similar. 

 

Earth: Earth is the element of substance; diverse and strong; persistent and enduring.

Water: When the well is dry we know the worth of water.

 

“Chanyeol?”

 

“Yes,” he answered, ready to reply to whatever question Baekhyun had.

 

“How do I get to the next room without getting killed?” 

 

“You press all the tiles, one at a time. I think fire would have automatically killed you by burning you completely on the spot, but earth is safe, and water could be overcome by floating towards the vent to prevent drowning. After pressing all the tiles, you could probably proceed to the next room.”

_ Alright, let's go with Earth then. _

 

Baekhyun faced the wall again and pushed the Earth Tile into the wall. Almost immediately, flowers formed around the tile and made two trails leading all around the room. Boulders and rocks sprouted up around the corner of the room, causing the room to shake as if there was an earthquake. It was a beautiful forest in a little room. And then just as quickly as everything came, they disappeared. 

 

The Earth Tile was gone. 

 

Water: Fluidly adapt to change.

 

"Baekhyun, press the tile and quickly come to me. I'll help you float inside the vent. I know you have a hard time swimming," Chanyeol said worriedly. 

 

Fluidly adapt to change.

 

Starting with learning to trust this stranger.

 

Baekhyun pressed the Water Tile and quickly ran over to Chanyeol's side right underneath the vent. He was surprised when Chanyeol took his hand in his and held him tight. 

 

A huge hole blasted into the wall and water was rapidly bursting out of it, like how an over pressured submarine would meet its end. In less than ten seconds, the room was filled up all over and the water was up to Baekhyun's mid-thighs.

 

"What do we do?!" Baekhyun yelled at Chanyeol at the top of his lungs, trying to shout over the rushing water.

 

"We wait!!" Chanyeol held Baekhyun's hand tighter, maybe as comfort, maybe for assurance that everything will be okay.

 

The water was now up to their chests and it was hard to move their arms and legs around because there was just too much water. 

 

"Baekhyun, you have to kick!!" Baekhyun started kicking the water, just as he had done in the pool, where he had to kick for his life before he could be drowned. The water was a few feet beneath the top of the room. "Keep floating, and keep your body underneath the vent!"

 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun were not able to see the water fill up the room all the way to the ceiling, because they were safely breathing inside the vent. Had they not been inside the vent, they would have drowned, smushed against the top of the room. The both of them waited and treaded the water for five minutes inside the vent, the time it would have taken a regular person to suffocate underwater. 

 

Soon, the water drained and Baekhyun and Chanyeol were back on the floor, clothes soaked and shoes sloshing around wherever they walk. They went and stood in front of the wall where the four tiles would have been. All of a sudden, heated air blew at Baekhyun and Chanyeol, almost as it was a huge blow dryer and within a minute, their clothes and shoes were dry, but their hair was blown up. When they turned to each other, Baekhyun and Chanyeol pointed at each other and laughed, as if they were good friends who often made fun of each other.

 

"Ahem," Baekhyun cleared his throat, "so, how do we get out of the room?"

 

"Just wait." And just as Chanyeol said that, a huge black and white clock appeared where the tiles initially were, and it started ticking, sounding like the inside of a clockwork tower, echoes and all. The minute hand started moving clockwise, and as it moved, the wall behind it disappeared.

15\. A quarter gone.

30\. Half gone.

45\. Three quarters gone.

60\. There was a hole in the wall.

 

"Alright, let's go! On to the next room!" Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun's hand again, smiled down at him and climbed into the hole in the wall, dragging the smaller boy inside with him. 


	10. The Chickens' Game of Twister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chickens play twister with winning as their desire

Baekhyun stopped midway in his tracks, also abruptly stopping Chanyeol. "Baekhyun, what's wrong?"

 

Baekhyun pointed ahead, tilting his head as if he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. "Are those chickens? With a game of Twister?" 

 

In this room, there were chickens — white, brown, and black — each standing on one spot on the Twister mat. A rooster seemed to conduct the game, standing next to the Twister spinner. What a peculiar sight!

 

"Yeah, we have to play and win in order to get to the next room."

 

Baekhyun spotted the exit on the other side of the room, which had a chicken nesting on the door handle. “Why can’t we just move the chicken aside and go through the door?” 

 

“Pretty sure we have to win the game for that chicken to hatch an egg with the key inside it. The door is locked.” 

 

_ Great. Really great. _

 

“So, I guess, let’s get playing. As long as it won’t turn out to be like that checkers game. That was so embarrassing.”

 

“Dude, who doesn’t know how to play checkers?” Baekhyun shot a glaring look at Chanyeol. “It’s the easiest board game to play. You’re lucky you came on the day that that room plays checkers, rather than chess or backgammon.”

 

“Actually, I can play chess,” Baekhyun interjected, “I’m pretty good at chess, I think. Well, at least a lot better than I am at checkers.” 

 

“Alright, well, those skills don’t matter here. I hope you’re flexible. Actually, you don’t even need to be flexible. This will be the easiest game of Twister you’ve ever played in your life.”

 

Chanyeol walked over to the rooster, who seemed to be in charge, with Baekhyun trailing behind him. Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel as if the chickens were staring them down, as if they were saying, “You dare challenge us?”

 

“Chanyeol, what happens if we lose? We can just keep playing until we win right?” Baekhyun asked a little timidly. He never thought he’d see the day when he would be afraid of the things he eats. The eyes were starting to freak him out. It reminded him of a time at a Chinese restaurant when his so-called friends would point the fried chicken head on the platter towards him, as if it were staring at him even without its body.

 

“Uhm… how about I don’t tell you about that…” Baekhyun scowled at him. “Let’s just try to win.” Chanyeol patted him on the back before telling the rooster, “We’re playing the next game. We want to challenge you with the reward of access to the exit out of this room.”

 

_ Cluck. _

 

The rooster took its place in front of the spinner, and some dance music began playing.  _ Is it starting already?  _

 

_ Wait.  _

 

_ How do you play Twister again? _

 

_ hOW DO YOU PLAY TWISTER AGAIN?! _

 

_ WAIT HOW DO YOU PLAY TWISTER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO GOES FIRST!?!? HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO GOES FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOSE TURN?!?!?! _

 

Chanyeol was pulling Baekhyun to the Twister mat when he saw the size of his eyes. “Baekhyun, are you okay?” Chanyeol’s touch on Baekhyun’s shoulder almost immediately calmed him down, but it wasn’t long before he started feeling jittery again. It was the adrenaline. How long has he played this game? And he doesn’t know if his life is at stake? 

 

It probably is, but Chanyeol just won’t tell him. Probably not to scare him. 

 

“Your eyes are seriously going to pop out of your head if you continue to look like that. Calm down…” 

 

“I’m good, I’m good.” He jumped up and down three times — he wasn’t sure if that shook off the nerves or helped to pump up the adrenaline even more. 

 

_ You won’t lose. Chanyeol won’t allow you to lose. _

 

The rooster crowed, raising his talons, only to strike it down on the spinner. Everyone and everything stared at the spinner until it stopped spinning. It landed on a green slice.

 

**Left Foot - Green**

 

Out of the 20 something chickens that were in the room, only three clucked their way onto the mat to play. Chanyeol and Baekhyun moved their left feet onto the green space of the Twister mat. The chickens each easily occupied a green space.

 

The rooster crowed once again and spun the spinner. 

 

**Left Foot - Blue**

 

Alright, this is going easier than expected. So far.

 

The chickens had to move their whole body to get on the blue spot, while Chanyeol and Baekhyun had to flip sides and move their left leg. 

 

**Right Hand - Yellow**

 

The three chickens seemed to have a hard time stretching their wings to touch the yellow circle. What happens if the next color they have to stretch out to is a green or red? 

 

The rooster turned away from the spinner and walked to the edge of the mat. All of a sudden, it crowed angrily at the chickens, as if it was telling them not to lose to the humans — Baekhyun grew increasingly frightened of the poultry. His arm and legs were starting to shake, since he hadn’t had the will to work out for the past few months.

 

“The rooster was telling them that they better not lose, or else severe consequences will follow,” Chanyeol whispered, while it was making its way back to the spinner. 

 

**Right Foot - Blue**

 

The chickens were fine; they stayed in the same position. However, Chanyeol and Baekhyun had to make room on the blue circle for both their feet. How could a  _ chicken _ have an advantage in this game? 

 

**Right Hand - Red**

 

Game over.

 

GG.

 

Two of the chickens tried to reach the red, but their wings could not even reach past yellow circles; the other chicken did not even try. A bell resounded and the music stopped playing, indicating the end of the game. Baekhyun and Chanyeol stood up victoriously and gave each other a high-five. The two of them turned their heads towards the door to see the hen stand up, a golden egg plopped down from underneath the hen, visible inside it’s nest. 

 

“YES, WE DID IT!” 

 

“Chanyeol, you were right, that has got to be the easiest and shortest game of Twister I’ve ever played in my life,” Baekhyun deadpanned. “I don’t know what you were so worried abo—”

 

A loud roaring crow shattered the sounds of quiet clucking and then tearing sounds were heard. Animalistic shrieks were heard and Baekhyun was terrified to turn around, turn around to see what in the world was going on behind him, what was going on that would make Chanyeol’s eyes turn wide with horror.

 

But he did anyway.

 

The rooster, which was no longer standing next to the spinner, was now full of blood, probably the blood of the chicken that was now lying dead and bloody beneath it. Its neck was torn out, all fleshy inside the rooster’s beak. The two other chickens that played the game stood in line behind the dead chicken, probably awaiting their punishment of a cruel death for not being able to win the game.

 

“Baekhyun, let’s go,” Chanyeol firmly said, taking him by the arm and dragging him towards the door. Baekhyun couldn’t take his eyes off the gory sight that was unfolding in the white room, and he couldn’t help but turn around to look as the second chicken was being ripped apart by the rooster. 

 

When they reached the door, Chanyeol took the golden egg from underneath the hen and cracked it open, revealing a golden key. “You didn’t tell me they were carnivorous,” Baekhyun demurred. “What would have happened if we lost? I would have gotten eaten and died before I knew what was happening!”  

 

"How could we lose to chic—"

 

"Chanyeol, still! Would you have told me if we were going against flexible man-eating circus people?!"

 

"I wouldn't let you play in the first place if we had a high chance of losing... I would find another way for you to make it to the next room safely."

 

Baekhyun smacked his forehead.

 

Chanyeol sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to get scared. It was better to play the game with a positive mind as if it were for fun, rather than knowing it was a life or death situation.” He stuck the key inside the keyhole and turned. The hen jumped off of its nest and onto the floor as Chanyeol opened the door to a black, black place.


	11. The Pathway of Signs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a pathway of signs, signs appear to quick

The place was not necessarily dark in terms of lighting; Baekhyun could still see Chanyeol in a perfectly well-lit way, and Chanyeol could see Baekhyun. The room was very inky and black, except it wasn’t really a room because they could see ahead that they were walking into an endless abyss. They were walking in silence.

 

However, after a few moments, one of the two were starting to doubt their decisions of going down this direction. He threw away his dignity and anger at what he thinks was deception from the taller in exchange for comfort and an answer. “Did we go the wrong way? Are we lost?” Baekhyun asked unsurely.

 

“There was no other door in the room,” Chanyeol chuckled lightly. “This is the right way, please trust me.” At that moment, black upon black, a very thick but curvy outline of a path could be seen. Baekhyun could still see it as he looked far ahead, although he wasn't sure how, since everything was just the same dark color. The path was very squiggly and wavy, though; it kind of looked like one of those roads in those old Saturday morning cartoons. “Can you see the path?”

 

“Yeah.” 

 

Silence. 

 

“Baekhyun, I’ll apologize again, I’m sorry. If you really want, I won’t hide anything from you again. You’re right. You deserve to know everything that’s going on around here,” Chanyeol told him, as they continued walking down the black path. “If you want to know this place, it’s the Pathway of Signs. Read everything fast and carefully, and if you react fast enough, maybe we won’t get hurt.” 

 

“React fast enough?” 

 

“If I remember correctly, some things come hurtling towards you out of nowhere in this place. I don’t know how many times and how often, but there are always a warning before it happens. Don’t worry too much — I’ll protect you — but stay alarmed.” 

 

Something flashed at the side of the road.

  
  


The sign disappeared after flashing brightly three times.

 

“Wait, what did it say?”

 

“‘Warning, come in.’ Although, I don’t really understand what it means, since we’ve been walking for a while now. Wouldn’t it have said that from the very beginning at the entrance? Maybe we are entering dangerous territory or the beginning of the signs appearances.”

 

“What signs? I don’t see anything ahead except black.” 

 

“The signs will randomly appear as we approach. Some may disappear after a few seconds, so read as fast as you can.”

  
  


“A sign!!! Wait, was that a question, or a pity statement?” Baekhyun asked Chanyeol.

 

“That’s a really good question,” answered the taller. 

  
  


"Really now?" Baekhyun muttered under his breath.

 

"Hey! I'm not crazy!" Chanyeol strongly protested.

 

“Okay,” the shorter started, ready to retort the statement, “maybe you, not as much, but the people I met before you are not as sane as you are.”

 

As they continued walking, they could tell the floor beside the path was slanting downwards while the path kept going leveled and straight. 

 

“Chanyeol, how did you come to this world?” the shorter said, breaking the silence between them. The room was starting to feel bigger and emptier, and the darkness was not at all comforting.

 

“I feel like I’ve been here since the beginning.”

 

“Really?” Baekhyun thought about it.  _ How did he end up here? He just knew he wanted to get out. Was it that he wanted freedom? _ “Chanyeol, I can’t remember how I came here anymore. Have I been here since the beginning, too?”

 

“No, you weren’t. You’re looking to go back home. Don’t lose your sense of purpose on this journey.” 

 

_ Why would I want to go home? _

 

Another sign popped up, distracting the two of them.

  
  


Baekhyun gasped and quickly grabbed Chanyeol’s arm. The tight grasp on his arm made him cry out in pain, but Baekhyun didn’t loosen his grip.

 

“What, what, what, LET GO!!” It just made the smaller hold on tighter, which made Chanyeol realize something. “Are you scared of heights?” 

 

Baekhyun nodded and pressed closer to Chanyeol. 

 

"It's alright, I gotcha. You don't have to be scared anymore."

 

Baekhyun loosened his group — just a LITTLE bit — and they continued walking on. 

  
  


“A stoplight? In here? IS THERE A CAR COMING AT US?!”

 

“NO NO NO, CALM DOWN, I DON’T SEE ANYTHING.”

 

“THEN WHY IS THERE A STOPLIGHT WITH A GREENLIGHT?!” 

 

Chanyeol chose not to answer.

  
  


“It looks like something ate it, ri—”   
  
“BAEKHYUN, WATCH OUT!!!!!!!” 

 

Chanyeol acted quickly and tackled Baekhyun forward, so they wouldn’t fall off the side of the path. When Baekhyun registered what happened, Chanyeol was on top of him and they were both on the ground. He looked past the taller and saw there was a huge axe with its blade stuck on the ground. It probably would have been his head if Chanyeol had not pushed him.

 

“Ch-chanyeol…” 

 

The taller sighed. “I told you, you have to react quickly. Thank God you are safe.”

 

“Thanks for s-saving me.” Baekhyun turned a bright red when he realized their positions.

 

Chanyeol got up and extended a hand out for him. “Are you okay?”

 

“Y-yeah, I fine.”

 

Baekhyun stood up and shook himself off to get rid of all the shock from his body. Chanyeol patted his back and they continued walking. 

 

“I am terrified of these signs now.”

 

Chanyeol laughed. “It’s ok, I think that was the worst of it.”

  
  


“Is this a trick question?”

 

“No.”

 

“Are you lying to me?”

 

“No.”

 

“It’s 3, isn’t it?”

 

“Are you dumb?”

 

“It’s 2?”

 

“I just said it’s not a trick question.”

  
  


“Do not block what?” 

 

“Baek, move to the side! Quick!” 

 

A huge black block was coming at them from right behind, a little slowly, but surely. It was big, but not big enough to cover the whole path, leaving some space for Chanyeol and Baekhyun to stand on either side. However, Baekhyun was caught off guard and stumbled as the block passed by. 

 

Chanyeol’s heart slowed for a second.

 

Before the block passed by, Baekhyun’s arms were flailing around helplessly, nothing to hold onto, and he was unbalanced on the edge of the path. When the block passed by, Baekhyun was gone and there was just a patch of black where he was supposed to be. 

 

He saw a hand trying to grab onto whatever it can on the edge of the path. “Baekhyun!! Hold on!!” Chanyeol dived forward for Baekhyun’s hand and grabbed it before the other could slip away. “I’ve got you! Don’t think of letting go!!” 

 

Baekhyun was trying his hardest to bring his other arm up so he could help pull himself up, but it was too much work and too much was being exerted on his other arm.  _ Come on, Baekhyun, it’s either a painful arm or death _ . His legs were dangling over the dark depths and he knew if he struggled and kicked, it would make it harder for Chanyeol.

 

With a grunt, Chanyeol heaved Baekhyun’s upper body pack onto the path. Although his legs were still on the edge, they both knew they’ve gotten over the worst of it. Baekhyun used the last of his energy to swing his legs over onto the path, and once he was completely safe Chanyeol collapsed onto his back breathing heavily. 

 

“You are too much work to look after,” Chanyeol said in between panted breaths.

 

“No one asked you to look after me,” Baekhyun breathed back.

 

After a few moments, another sign appeared.

  
  


“Another sign,” Chanyeol said, sitting up. “We should get moving.”

 

Baekhyun stood and looked at the sign. “Fanta? Are we going to get a drink?”

 

The sign disappeared. 

 

“Come to think of it, I was never hungry, thirsty, or sleepy, and I’ve never had to use the bathroom in this place.”

 

“The closer you get to your destination, which is your world, the more you will intensely feel those. We are probably too far for you to feel them yet.”

 

“Aw, that’s great to know,” Baekhyun muttered.

  
  


“Are those train signs? Why do they have a plus and a minus sign in front of them?”

 

An idea struck Chanyeol’s mind. He thought back to the signs all the way from the beginning of the path. “Wait, I think these signs are trying to tell us something.

 

“Green stoplight means ‘Go’. 1+1 equals ‘2’. Fanta - F + C is ‘Canta’ which is ‘Sing’ in Spanish… right? I think that’s the only Spanish word I know…” 

 

“Go to sing?” Baekhyun sat down to think about what to do next when the next sign popped up.

  
  


A circular saw blade ripped through the air, straight down the middle where Baekhyun was sitting. Chanyeol couldn’t do anything at the time because it all happened too fast, but the blade whistled past him and only sliced off a single hair off Baekhyun’s head. If Baekhyun was still standing, it would have went through his gut, decapitating the top of his body from the lower half of his body. 

 

Baekhyun almost fainted.

 

Instead, he stood up to scream at Chanyeol.

 

“YOU SAID THE MACHETE AXE THINGY WAS THE WORST OF IT!!!” 

 

“I THOUGHT IT WAS!!” 

 

“THAT WAS THREE TIMES I ALMOST DIED!!” 

 

“BUT YOU DIDN’T AND YOU’RE STILL ALIVE!!” 

 

“OH MY GOD, I’M DONE WITH THIS PLACE!!” 

 

They trudged on, letting a steamed Baekhyun cool down and a bitter Chanyeol to become a little bit sarcastic. Chanyeol thought about how many times he's saved Baekhyun; he's watching over him only because he felt a sense of responsibility to do so. Baekhyun should be a little more grateful.

  
  


“Man, right? A dog is a man's best friend."

 

"I'm glad you figured that out."

 

"Are you mad at me?"

 

"Hmm, I don't know."

 

"You know, I've always wanted a dog when I was little. It would have been nice to have at least one best friend."

 

Chanyeol's eyes filled with sympathy and he threw a puppy-dog face in Baekhyun's direction. "Aww, Baekhyun, I'll be your best friend!!" He threw his arms around him and hugged him. 

 

Guess he couldn’t stay sarcastic for long. Chanyeol figured out he has a soft spot for Baekhyun.

  
  


“Is that a fancy backwards ‘E’?” 

 

“No, I’m pretty sure that’s an ‘&’.”

 

"What's it doing here?"

 

"It's a sign, I don't know. Oh, wait. Go to sing man and… maybe it’s singing man…"

  
  


Baekhyun and Chanyeol stopped walking. 

 

“Is something dangerous that would normally result in my death but I end up living anyway going to happen?

 

“Yeah probably.”

 

The part of the path past the stop sign broke apart and fell, crumbling down into the depths of nothingness — Baekhyun facepalmed. 

 

“Just listen to the signs and you’ll be fine,” Chanyeol reassured him. “You’re still alive now because you are doing just that, so there's no problem.” They walked on as the path rematerialized.

  
  


“Do you wear glasses?”

 

“Sometimes.”

 

“Then in which part of this world do you live in? Don’t you have a home here to keep your glasses?” 

 

“That’s a good question.”

 

“Another good question I won’t get the answer to?”

 

“Precisely.”

  
  


“If it’s six and square, then isn’t it a cube?”

 

“Of course. Do you even need to ask me to make sure?”

 

“You’re being very sassy in here.”

 

“Okay, now put the signs together; it tells us where our next destination is.”

 

“Singing man and glasses cube? Go to the Singing Man and Glass Cube?”

 

Baekhyun smiled triumphantly when Chanyeol nodded down at him. They were getting somewhere!! 

 

“Chanyeol, look over there!”

  
  


The turned to the left at the sign and realized they were no longer walking on a path, but they were coming onto a platform. Everything was still black, but Baekhyun didn’t have to worry about falling down over and dying. 

 

Three glass doors appeared in front of them. 

 

One of them could be the exit.

 

Or all of them. 

 

“Baekhyun, I think you’re going to have to choose which door we exit out of.”

 

“How do I know which one leads to the Singing Man?” Even though they were glass doors, they were similar to the door that led to the taxi driver’s room; they couldn’t see inside of it. 

 

Baekhyun didn’t even want to do eenie-meenie-minie-mo anymore, so he just picked the middle door. Baekhyun walked forward, grabbed the handle, and pushed the door open. 


	12. The Pathway of Signs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a pathway of signs, signs appear to quick

The place was not necessarily dark in terms of lighting; Baekhyun could still see Chanyeol in a perfectly well-lit way, and Chanyeol could see Baekhyun. The room was very inky and black, except it wasn’t really a room because they could see ahead that they were walking into an endless abyss. They were walking in silence.

 

However, after a few moments, one of the two were starting to doubt their decisions of going down this direction. He threw away his dignity and anger at what he thinks was deception from the taller in exchange for comfort and an answer. “Did we go the wrong way? Are we lost?” Baekhyun asked unsurely.

 

“There was no other door in the room,” Chanyeol chuckled lightly. “This is the right way, please trust me.” At that moment, black upon black, a very thick but curvy outline of a path could be seen. Baekhyun could still see it as he looked far ahead, although he wasn't sure how, since everything was just the same dark color. The path was very squiggly and wavy, though; it kind of looked like one of those roads in those old Saturday morning cartoons. “Can you see the path?”

 

“Yeah.” 

 

Silence. 

 

“Baekhyun, I’ll apologize again, I’m sorry. If you really want, I won’t hide anything from you again. You’re right. You deserve to know everything that’s going on around here,” Chanyeol told him, as they continued walking down the black path. “If you want to know this place, it’s the Pathway of Signs. Read everything fast and carefully, and if you react fast enough, maybe we won’t get hurt.” 

 

“React fast enough?” 

 

“If I remember correctly, some things come hurtling towards you out of nowhere in this place. I don’t know how many times and how often, but there are always a warning before it happens. Don’t worry too much — I’ll protect you — but stay alarmed.” 

 

Something flashed at the side of the road.

  
  


The sign disappeared after flashing brightly three times.

 

“Wait, what did it say?”

 

“‘Warning, come in.’ Although, I don’t really understand what it means, since we’ve been walking for a while now. Wouldn’t it have said that from the very beginning at the entrance? Maybe we are entering dangerous territory or the beginning of the signs appearances.”

 

“What signs? I don’t see anything ahead except black.” 

 

“The signs will randomly appear as we approach. Some may disappear after a few seconds, so read as fast as you can.”

  
  


“A sign!!! Wait, was that a question, or a pity statement?” Baekhyun asked Chanyeol.

 

“That’s a really good question,” answered the taller. 

  
  


"Really now?" Baekhyun muttered under his breath.

 

"Hey! I'm not crazy!" Chanyeol strongly protested.

 

“Okay,” the shorter started, ready to retort the statement, “maybe you, not as much, but the people I met before you are not as sane as you are.”

 

As they continued walking, they could tell the floor beside the path was slanting downwards while the path kept going leveled and straight. 

 

“Chanyeol, how did you come to this world?” the shorter said, breaking the silence between them. The room was starting to feel bigger and emptier, and the darkness was not at all comforting.

 

“I feel like I’ve been here since the beginning.”

 

“Really?” Baekhyun thought about it.  _ How did he end up here? He just knew he wanted to get out. Was it that he wanted freedom? _ “Chanyeol, I can’t remember how I came here anymore. Have I been here since the beginning, too?”

 

“No, you weren’t. You’re looking to go back home. Don’t lose your sense of purpose on this journey.” 

 

_ Why would I want to go home? _

 

Another sign popped up, distracting the two of them.

  
  


Baekhyun gasped and quickly grabbed Chanyeol’s arm. The tight grasp on his arm made him cry out in pain, but Baekhyun didn’t loosen his grip.

 

“What, what, what, LET GO!!” It just made the smaller hold on tighter, which made Chanyeol realize something. “Are you scared of heights?” 

 

Baekhyun nodded and pressed closer to Chanyeol. 

 

"It's alright, I gotcha. You don't have to be scared anymore."

 

Baekhyun loosened his group — just a LITTLE bit — and they continued walking on. 

  
  


“A stoplight? In here? IS THERE A CAR COMING AT US?!”

 

“NO NO NO, CALM DOWN, I DON’T SEE ANYTHING.”

 

“THEN WHY IS THERE A STOPLIGHT WITH A GREENLIGHT?!” 

 

Chanyeol chose not to answer.

  
  


“It looks like something ate it, ri—”   
  
“BAEKHYUN, WATCH OUT!!!!!!!” 

 

Chanyeol acted quickly and tackled Baekhyun forward, so they wouldn’t fall off the side of the path. When Baekhyun registered what happened, Chanyeol was on top of him and they were both on the ground. He looked past the taller and saw there was a huge axe with its blade stuck on the ground. It probably would have been his head if Chanyeol had not pushed him.

 

“Ch-chanyeol…” 

 

The taller sighed. “I told you, you have to react quickly. Thank God you are safe.”

 

“Thanks for s-saving me.” Baekhyun turned a bright red when he realized their positions.

 

Chanyeol got up and extended a hand out for him. “Are you okay?”

 

“Y-yeah, I fine.”

 

Baekhyun stood up and shook himself off to get rid of all the shock from his body. Chanyeol patted his back and they continued walking. 

 

“I am terrified of these signs now.”

 

Chanyeol laughed. “It’s ok, I think that was the worst of it.”

  
  


“Is this a trick question?”

 

“No.”

 

“Are you lying to me?”

 

“No.”

 

“It’s 3, isn’t it?”

 

“Are you dumb?”

 

“It’s 2?”

 

“I just said it’s not a trick question.”

  
  


“Do not block what?” 

 

“Baek, move to the side! Quick!” 

 

A huge black block was coming at them from right behind, a little slowly, but surely. It was big, but not big enough to cover the whole path, leaving some space for Chanyeol and Baekhyun to stand on either side. However, Baekhyun was caught off guard and stumbled as the block passed by. 

 

Chanyeol’s heart slowed for a second.

 

Before the block passed by, Baekhyun’s arms were flailing around helplessly, nothing to hold onto, and he was unbalanced on the edge of the path. When the block passed by, Baekhyun was gone and there was just a patch of black where he was supposed to be. 

 

He saw a hand trying to grab onto whatever it can on the edge of the path. “Baekhyun!! Hold on!!” Chanyeol dived forward for Baekhyun’s hand and grabbed it before the other could slip away. “I’ve got you! Don’t think of letting go!!” 

 

Baekhyun was trying his hardest to bring his other arm up so he could help pull himself up, but it was too much work and too much was being exerted on his other arm.  _ Come on, Baekhyun, it’s either a painful arm or death _ . His legs were dangling over the dark depths and he knew if he struggled and kicked, it would make it harder for Chanyeol.

 

With a grunt, Chanyeol heaved Baekhyun’s upper body pack onto the path. Although his legs were still on the edge, they both knew they’ve gotten over the worst of it. Baekhyun used the last of his energy to swing his legs over onto the path, and once he was completely safe Chanyeol collapsed onto his back breathing heavily. 

 

“You are too much work to look after,” Chanyeol said in between panted breaths.

 

“No one asked you to look after me,” Baekhyun breathed back.

 

After a few moments, another sign appeared.

  
  


“Another sign,” Chanyeol said, sitting up. “We should get moving.”

 

Baekhyun stood and looked at the sign. “Fanta? Are we going to get a drink?”

 

The sign disappeared. 

 

“Come to think of it, I was never hungry, thirsty, or sleepy, and I’ve never had to use the bathroom in this place.”

 

“The closer you get to your destination, which is your world, the more you will intensely feel those. We are probably too far for you to feel them yet.”

 

“Aw, that’s great to know,” Baekhyun muttered.

  
  


“Are those train signs? Why do they have a plus and a minus sign in front of them?”

 

An idea struck Chanyeol’s mind. He thought back to the signs all the way from the beginning of the path. “Wait, I think these signs are trying to tell us something.

 

“Green stoplight means ‘Go’. 1+1 equals ‘2’. Fanta - F + C is ‘Canta’ which is ‘Sing’ in Spanish… right? I think that’s the only Spanish word I know…” 

 

“Go to sing?” Baekhyun sat down to think about what to do next when the next sign popped up.

  
  


A circular saw blade ripped through the air, straight down the middle where Baekhyun was sitting. Chanyeol couldn’t do anything at the time because it all happened too fast, but the blade whistled past him and only sliced off a single hair off Baekhyun’s head. If Baekhyun was still standing, it would have went through his gut, decapitating the top of his body from the lower half of his body. 

 

Baekhyun almost fainted.

 

Instead, he stood up to scream at Chanyeol.

 

“YOU SAID THE MACHETE AXE THINGY WAS THE WORST OF IT!!!” 

 

“I THOUGHT IT WAS!!” 

 

“THAT WAS THREE TIMES I ALMOST DIED!!” 

 

“BUT YOU DIDN’T AND YOU’RE STILL ALIVE!!” 

 

“OH MY GOD, I’M DONE WITH THIS PLACE!!” 

 

They trudged on, letting a steamed Baekhyun cool down and a bitter Chanyeol to become a little bit sarcastic. Chanyeol thought about how many times he's saved Baekhyun; he's watching over him only because he felt a sense of responsibility to do so. Baekhyun should be a little more grateful.

  
  


“Man, right? A dog is a man's best friend."

 

"I'm glad you figured that out."

 

"Are you mad at me?"

 

"Hmm, I don't know."

 

"You know, I've always wanted a dog when I was little. It would have been nice to have at least one best friend."

 

Chanyeol's eyes filled with sympathy and he threw a puppy-dog face in Baekhyun's direction. "Aww, Baekhyun, I'll be your best friend!!" He threw his arms around him and hugged him. 

 

Guess he couldn’t stay sarcastic for long. Chanyeol figured out he has a soft spot for Baekhyun.

  
  


“Is that a fancy backwards ‘E’?” 

 

“No, I’m pretty sure that’s an ‘&’.”

 

"What's it doing here?"

 

"It's a sign, I don't know. Oh, wait. Go to sing man and… maybe it’s singing man…"

  
  


Baekhyun and Chanyeol stopped walking. 

 

“Is something dangerous that would normally result in my death but I end up living anyway going to happen?

 

“Yeah probably.”

 

The part of the path past the stop sign broke apart and fell, crumbling down into the depths of nothingness — Baekhyun facepalmed. 

 

“Just listen to the signs and you’ll be fine,” Chanyeol reassured him. “You’re still alive now because you are doing just that, so there's no problem.” They walked on as the path rematerialized.

  
  


“Do you wear glasses?”

 

“Sometimes.”

 

“Then in which part of this world do you live in? Don’t you have a home here to keep your glasses?” 

 

“That’s a good question.”

 

“Another good question I won’t get the answer to?”

 

“Precisely.”

  
  


“If it’s six and square, then isn’t it a cube?”

 

“Of course. Do you even need to ask me to make sure?”

 

“You’re being very sassy in here.”

 

“Okay, now put the signs together; it tells us where our next destination is.”

 

“Singing man and glasses cube? Go to the Singing Man and Glass Cube?”

 

Baekhyun smiled triumphantly when Chanyeol nodded down at him. They were getting somewhere!! 

 

“Chanyeol, look over there!”

  
  


The turned to the left at the sign and realized they were no longer walking on a path, but they were coming onto a platform. Everything was still black, but Baekhyun didn’t have to worry about falling down over and dying. 

 

Three glass doors appeared in front of them. 

 

One of them could be the exit.

 

Or all of them. 

 

“Baekhyun, I think you’re going to have to choose which door we exit out of.”

 

“How do I know which one leads to the Singing Man?” Even though they were glass doors, they were similar to the door that led to the taxi driver’s room; they couldn’t see inside of it. 

 

Baekhyun didn’t even want to do eenie-meenie-minie-mo anymore, so he just picked the middle door. Baekhyun walked forward, grabbed the handle, and pushed the door open. 


	13. The Glass Cube and the Singing Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The singing man in a cube, who has a sharp high note nick

Another white room; at this rate, Baekhyun was exasperated. Is there at least some way of knowing whether or not he’s close to the end of this journey? However, this white room had a high-ceiling unlike most of the rooms he had been in already. It gave the room a somewhat simple, but majestic feeling since it had such a huge space with almost nothing in it.

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol made their way into the room. The first thing that met their eyes was the huge glass cube in the middle of the room. The second thing that met their eyes was the tiny man with high cheekbones, brown curly hair, and a bobbing Adam’s apple that moved every time he hit the right note. His eyes were closed, and he was lost in his surroundings, absorbed in his own melodic vocals. So they came to the right room… 

 

_ For meeting you and being able to touch your hair _

_ For meeting you and being able to breathe, looking at each other _

_ For being hugged and being able to let the tears flow when it's tough _

 

_ I'm so fortunate... _

_ For the beautiful world that knows you and placing you here _

 

_ In the violent wind and under a wet roof, I'm not getting tossed there by myself. _

_ Wearisome of daily life and survival, by some chance is not something meaningless _

_ It's because of amazing person... you... that always be by my side _

 

Baekhyun didn’t blame the singer for being so absorbed in his own singing; he himself was captivated by the voice — it was so unique and unlike any other voice he’s heard in his world. It was very soothing and at the same time explosive; if it was a tangible substance, Baekhyun felt as if he could wallow in it forever. 

 

Besides the singing, Baekhyun could hear a crackling noise, so when he took a closer look at the cube, he could see cracks forming from the middle of the the side closest to them. “Is he one of those singers that can shatter glass?” 

 

“Mhm,” was Chanyeol’s reply to Baekhyun. “Honestly, I don’t see any doors or exits out of this place, so I don’t know how to get to the next room… but I don’t think it’s a good idea to ask him…” he said, trailing off his sentence when Baekhyun walked forward to the cube, despite Chanyeol’s warning.

 

Baekhyun was staring at the crack now, in front of the cube, but the singer was too busy singing his soul out to notice. His desire to move on overpowered his fascination with the singing. “Excuse me!!” he called out to the singer to get his attention. Nothing.

 

_ Tap! Tap! Tap! _

 

The singer’s voice faltered a little, but he continued to sing with closed eyes. Baekhyun was growing a little impatient. 

 

“Hey!! I need you to stop singing and answer for one second!!”

 

The man abruptly stopped singing and slowly turned to look at his disturbance with wide and murderous eyes. Then he scoffed rudely and returned to singing with his eyes closed again.  _ Oh nah…  _

 

Baekhyun started to raise his fist. Chanyeol’s eyes widened with realization. “Baekhyun, don’t do that. no, no… BAEK—” 

 

_ CRACK! _

 

Baekhyun had punched the glass where it was already slowly cracking in attempt to shatter the whole side of the cube. Except that did not happen — it just resulted in a bigger crack and a now explosively angry short singer. 

 

"YAH!!!!!!!!!! たわごとウンチのあなたが一枚, 私は今、歌っています!"

 

_ Finally, he answered _ . Now Baekhyun tried to be polite. "Sorry, I was wondering if you could help us get to the next place?" At this point, he gave up thinking the next room would be his way out. There will definitely and most probably be another room after this one.

 

“离开。你是一个他妈的白痴。”

 

“Wait, what? Don’t you know Korean? I don't understand what you are saying.”

 

"сделал не я говорю, что хочу, чтобы ты ушел?”

“I really need help, I don't know where to go,” Baekhyun continued, trying to get an answer out of the singer.

“"Hindi ko nais upang matulungan ang isang taong isip-bata na tulad mo."

He could not understand a single word. Was he even speaking in the same language? “Oh my god, what are you saying???”

"Hvað er ég að segja? Hvað ertu að segja?"

“You still sound so angry, are you that mad I punched the crack in the glass? That I disturbed your singing?”

“Halt die Klappe oder schlecht knacken die Glas öffnen und erwürgen Sie!”

“Please, I don't understand what you are saying!!! This wouldn’t happen if you can just answer the first question…” Baekhyun muttered the last sentence under his breath.

“Xin lỗi tôi thông minh và bạn không biết nhiều ngôn ngữ!”

 

“Alright, I need to swoop in and stop this nonsense,” Chanyeol came in between the glass and Baekhyun, whose eyes were now wide open with surprise. “He’s obviously not going to talk in Korean, and you don’t know when to stop. Baekhyun, we need to talk.” Chanyeol grabbed the shorter by the collar and despite the protests, brought him to one of the corners in the room, with the singer staring at them with hawk eyes and his arms crossed defiantly across his chest. Although he set the two far apart from each other, plus the glass barrier containing the singer, there was still seething anger in the atmosphere.

 

“Tu noli me dominari, quem te ipsum facis?! Jste blázen jako ten chlap pod vodou!” The man in the cube shouted from across the room.

 

_ Drip. Drip. Drip. _

 

“Baekhyun, your hand is bleeding,” Chanyeol sighed. “You didn’t have to punch the glass.”

 

“Pft, what would this be back in reality, a papercut?” Baekhyun dismissed it, trying to laugh it off.

 

“Yeah, maybe,” Chanyeol said, trying to smile. He took of his sweater and handed it to Baekhyun. “Try to wipe the blood on my sweater for now, and try to stop the bleeding.”

 

Baekhyun took the sweater and wrapped his hand in it. Chanyeol began to speak again, “But about the singer, don’t you realize he can’t speak in the same language as we do? He’s speaking in all types of different languages, EXCEPT Korean.”

 

“How are we going to find out how to get into to the next room then?”

 

“Don’t you remember being able to understand him when he was  _ singing?  _ He may not speak in Korean but he sings in it.” 

 

“Ahhhhhhhhhh,” Baekhyun said, with an amused expression while waving a finger at Chanyeol. It was almost as if he was saying,  _ “Chanyeol, you sly dog, you are a genius!!!”   _

 

Baekhyun, now timid, since he probably sounded like an idiot to the singer before about trying to get him to speak Korean, walked up slowly towards the cube again, shying away from behind Chanyeol. The taller looked back and smiled at Baekhyun’s sudden shyness.

 

“WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!” the singer shrieked in what Baekhyun recognized as English;  Baekhyun jumped back in surprise (although he probably should not have been as surprised as he was) and Chanyeol flinched at the high pitched shriek, even though he expected it. 

 

“Uh, hi,” Baekhyun replied, sheepishly, after recovering from the singer’s ear-shattering pitches. 

 

The singer pulled a random lemon out of his pocket, and he chucked it at the crack, which Baekhyun was standing in front of. Again, the cube did not shatter, but instead, the crack grew bigger. 

 

Baekhyun recovered from the shock of suddenly almost being hit by the fruit and continued on. “I don’t understand you when you are speaking to me — wait wait wait! Please, sing to me… like speak to me through your songs,” Baekhyun pleaded, before the singer could turn away and ignore him again. Chanyeol nodded a little encouragement to the singer from behind. 

 

The singer made a sour face, but then sighed. Taking a deep breath, he started,

 

_ You don’t disturb a person while he is singing _

_ It says a lot about your upbringing _

_ If you don’t get out now, your butt out the door is what I’ll be flinging _

 

“His singing is so beautiful…”

 

Chanyeol snickered. “You say that when you hear the lyrics?”

 

“I can’t stay mad at him with his beautiful voice!!” 

 

“Damn, Baek, maybe I should sing for you one day, so you can be hypnotized by my voice and listen to what I say, too,” Chanyeol said with mock enthusiasm.

 

“SHH! Be quiet!! I’m missing part of the song!!” 

 

_ If you think I’m going to help you, that’s where you’re wrong _

_ So stop dreaming and leave, it’s the end of this song _

 

Baekhyun’s face fell. “What? That’s it?” he cried out with disbelief. The singer nodded exaggeratedly with his eyes closed. What a little shit. He’s picking a fight. 

 

Baekhyun turned to Chanyeol. “You made me miss most of his song!!!” 

 

Chanyeol didn’t react. He didn’t care. 

 

“Now what are we supposed to do?”

 

Chanyeol shrugged. “This is it. This is all we can do, and if he’s not going to help us, we’re going to have to wait.” 

 

“Ahahaha, yo te ayudo, pero no ahora!” the singing man cackled. Baekhyun almost went and punched the glass again, but then he was reminded that wouldn’t be such a good idea with his throbbing and bleeding hand. 

 

“Chanyeol, did you understand what he said at all?” Baekhyun asked the taller, who shook his head in response. “Damn, I really should have studied some language courses in college.” 

 

“I’m telling you, we can just wait. There’s no potentially life-threatening objects in this room, so we can spend all we want in here and just wait for the exit to show up. 

 

“Σας λέω, απλά περιμένετε μέχρι ο κύβος είναι σπασμένο!” 

 

Baekhyun screamed internally, trying to stop himself from lunging at the cube and breaking it apart to kill the singer himself. He was too frustrated with the fact that the singer keeps talking when he knows they don’t understand him. Chanyeol and Baekhyun sat down on the floor, but Baekhyun forgot his seething anger when the singer opened his mouth this time.

 

_ Without even knowing, I was holding the phone _

_ It’s me, it’s been a long time _

_ Because it was so hard, because I felt bad if I held you back _

_ Because I regret letting you go, I just let out a sigh _

 

_ Because I was so surprised, I couldn’t speak _

_ I was holding on to my trembling heart _

_ Are you struggling a lot? Where are you? _

_ Before I could even ask, tears fell down _

_ Just by hearing the sound of your breath _

 

_ When tears fall, even my smallest cherished memories don’t know what to do _

_ Because it hurt so much, we promised to let each other go _

_ But whenever I’m not sure I can do it, please let me hear at least your breath _

 

_ Breathing, opening my eyes every day, barely getting through each day _

_ I couldn’t tell you that those things were harder than dying _

_ In case you would get worried so like a fool, I just let out a sigh _

 

_ There was so much I wanted to say but I couldn’t say anything _

_ We said that we were okay, comforting each other in pain _

_ When I look back, we were only happy, we haven’t let each other go _

 

_ Please let me hear at least your breath _

 

Baekhyun clapped excessively, too excited from hearing a full song with the singer’s beautiful voice. Chanyeol shook his head and proceeded to lie down with his back on the floor. 

 

The singer cleared his throat really loudly and obnoxiously. “What’s he doing?”

 

“Beats me,” Chanyeol replied lazily. “Maybe he’s going to try to break the cube now.”

 

“Wait, does that mean —” 

 

“Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” His pitch was so high, it was ear-shattering, heart-wrenching, and nail-scratchingly horrible, and Baekhyun felt like he was going to faint as Chanyeol felt like he could feel his cochlea trying to run away from the sound somehow. 

 

The singer still shrieked the long high note, and Baekhyun could feel it passed the ten second mark. If he wasn't busy trying to salvage his hearing, he would be impressed with how long the singer could spend his breath.

 

Through the fuzziness and the light-headedness, Baekhyun heard the singer stop, and everything was silent for a while. Nothing happened, which added onto Chanyeol's baffled state from the shrieking, making him confused as ever. 

 

21.83 seconds.

 

The cube was standing solid and tall one moment, and it crumbled and fell apart silently the other. The singer laughed gleefully and made his way to Chanyeol and Baekhyun through the pieces of glass gathered on the ground. He pointed to one side of the room and the two followed suit to look what he was pointing out.

 

One of the walls were slowly fading, diminishing from a solid white to a fleshy pink, which extended to form a tunnel, causing a hollow black emergence. The walls were throbbing rhythmically, as if it were a beat to a silent, unsung song. Baekhyun looked at the singer unsurely, and then at Chanyeol for reassurance. When the taller nodded, they made their way inside to the pathway full of vessels.


	14. The Pathway of Vessels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pathway of vessels shows what your heart holds true

As soon as they stepped inside the walls turned gray, and the walls stopped pulsating. Blue veins that were on the walls turned black, as if their surroundings went from a color movie to a black and white film. The background around them looked sickly, as if the insides of someone died. The smell of disease and decay started to follow up from behind Baekhyun and Chanyeol, but they couldn’t do anything but cover their noses to block out the stench.

 

“What happened? It looked alive and perfectly healthy until we stepped in,” Baekhyun inquired in a nasal voice since he was pinching his nose to keep the smell away. The walls thumped faintly, but that was the only measly indication of life they received.

 

“Baek, are you sick anywhere in your body?” Chanyeol asked, completely ignoring the shorter’s question. 

 

Baekhyun thought for a second. “No, I don’t think so. Not in the real world.”

 

“If you’re not sick… then, are you heartbroken?”

 

Baekhyun froze. These questions… did they have anything to do with the fact that they were standing in a pathway full of dead and defunct vessels? 

 

He couldn’t be heartbroken; he was never in a relationship for him to have his heart break. All his life, he was too depressed and alone to be able to have a successful relationship end badly and leave his heart shattered. If he thought about it, his heart would be cold and stone. It would be barren and empty… 

 

Just like this place.

 

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol called from beside him, trying to shake him out of his thoughts and an answer out of him.

 

“Are we in my heart?”

 

Chanyeol was taken aback that Baekhyun caught on so fast, but he pursed his lips and answered, “I think so.”

 

“How would we know?” 

 

“Put your hand on your heart, and try to see if your heart’s rhythm matches with the wall’s movement,” Chanyeol suggested. Baekhyun held his hand over his heart and tried to feel around for his heartbeat; it pumped the same time the walls throbbed.

 

“This is impossible… how?” 

 

Chanyeol turned around and walked to where Baekhyun had stopped walking. He removed Baekhyun’s hand from his chest and replaced it with his own, feeling around to see the truth in Baekhyun’s words. 

 

The walls became slightly pinker and the pulsation of the walls became a little stronger.

 

Chanyeol realized this. Baekhyun did not.

 

“Let’s continue walking,” Chanyeol said, with a little smile on his face. As they stepped forward, Chanyeol suddenly grabbed Baekhyun’s hand, which caught the smaller by surprise. 

 

The walls became more alive and were quicker in movement.

 

“You’re holding my hand,” Baekhyun said matter-of-factly. 

 

“Yeah, I am,” Chanyeol looked down at his side to Baekhyun again and smiled. 

 

_ Fuck _ , Baekhyun thought as he felt his heart rate skyrocket. It was this room — this room was emphasizing the way he felt for the person that has protected him for half this journey.

 

“Can you not,” Baekhyun asked, in an attempt to calm down his heart. 

 

“Is this the first time you’ve felt like this?” Chanyeol ignored Baekhyun’s request to let go of his hand. He was a little bit curious.

 

“Maybe,” Baekhyun answered. “Just no,” he tried to jerk his hand away from Chanyeol’s grasp. “For all I know, you might not be real and this could still be a dream. The people telling me that this is an alternate universe could be part of the dream.”

 

Chanyeol frowned. “If this is a dream, then wouldn’t you have been awake a long time ago?”

 

“I don’t know how dreams work! Maybe this whole thing had been 0.5 seconds, and I’m going to wake up in 0.08 seconds.”

 

“Then I should kiss you in that time before you wake up,” and before Baekhyun could protest, Chanyeol’s lips crashed onto his. Baekhyun didn’t even fight it and kissed back, as he heard the walls around him pound a fast beat into their ears. His heart was pumping quicker and harder than it ever had in his life, and he thought he would die of a heart attack in the moment. Baekhyun didn’t realize his eyes were closed until Chanyeol pulled away and he saw the pathway was more alive than ever.

 

Chanyeol made him feel alive.

 

Chanyeol has helped him stay alive this whole time.

 

“Now, babe, your heart should be resolved.”

 

“I’m going to kill you. Don’t call me babe.” 

 

“I’m fine with the name-calling, but you wouldn’t want to cease your new boyfriend’s existence now, right?”

 

Baekhyun could feel the blood pumping into his cheeks. "H-hey, I didn't agree to this boyfriend set up!" 

 

“You should though,” Chanyeol had a smug smile on his face, knowing Baekhyun would agree. 

 

Instead, Baekhyun decided to avoid the whole subject entirely — it was a completely new topic to him.  The boy looked around desperately for anything to come to mind, and luckily he saw a rocky entrance.  “Chanyeol, look, a cave! I think it’s the end of this pathway of vessels!” and he scurried off before the taller could say anything.

 

“Tch, you have no fear,” Chanyeol muttered to himself before smiling and following behind.


	15. The Acidic Sanitizer Grotto and the God of Suicide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The God of Suicide urges you past harm to start anew

Chanyeol and Baekhyun entered the rocky opening, and it was getting a little dark. When he couldn’t see anymore, Baekhyun stumbled across some rocks. When his foot got caught on a huge rock, he was sure he was going to fall, but Chanyeol caught him just in time. Baekhyun went from resenting the dark for blinding him from seeing where he was going to praising it for not allowing Chanyeol to see his burning cheeks. 

 

“I don’t trust you to go walking on your own in the dark,” Chanyeol said out of nowhere, and suddenly Baekhyun felt something grab his hand. At first, he yelped, but then he realized it was Chanyeol’s hand so he relaxed a little while Chanyeol laughed.

 

Baekhyun relied on Chanyeol for guidance through the cave, and they eventually reached another opening with a blue light reflecting out of it. 

 

"Wahhh," Baekhyun exclaimed when he saw a light blue lake, edged around the dark rocks. He let go of a disappointed Chanyeol's hand and went to take a closer look at the water. It was still and undisturbed; probably no one has touched it for many years. 

 

There was a boat waiting to take them across to the other side, but Baekhyun was ready for a swim. 

 

"Wait," Chanyeol called out, causing the shorter to turn around. He picked up a rock and tossed it into the lake, causing it to bubble and sizzle as the rock sunk. Baekhyun widened his eyes and turned away from the rock to look at Chanyeol. "It's acidic. You'll probably die if you swim in it."

 

"You're right."

 

Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol whipped around to see a young man cloaked in black. His face was very pale and he had dark eyes to match his dark hair. He also looked very tired, with dark eye bags clouding around his eyes.

 

"Who are you?" Baekhyun cut in. He was a little frightened of people who had a dark aura after the humanoid who nearly sawed his leg open. 

 

"I am an Angel of Death, specifically the God of Suicide. I have payed you many visits in the mortal world, but I have come and gone unnoticed."

 

The God of Suicide visited him? Not just once, either. That's a little scary. "It may seem untrue, but the depressing thoughts you thought of yourself dying are what summons me."

 

"What about now? Why are you here? I didn't think about killing myself." 

 

"You were just about to jump into a pool of acidic sanitizer!! Furthermore, this is where I reside."

 

Baekhyun did a double take at the lake. "What? That thing isn't water?"

 

The dark angel shook his head. "So, do me a favor and don't go in it."

 

"But I have to cross it to get to the other side."

 

The God of Suicide hit his own head in frustration before he continued, "You could cross, as long as you are with your boyfriend here."

 

Baekhyun had forgotten Chanyeol was still here. He probably heard everything about how he wanted to end his life in the other world. He wondered what the other would think of him now and if he was sad to hear about this. He was too scared to turn around and look into the taller's eyes and see disappointment.

 

"Why are you so intent on letting me live?"

 

The god stepped back and gave a look to both Chanyeol and Baekhyun before he lifted his cloak. Underneath were many creatures, gray and ugly, moaning and crying out for escape. All of them were reaching out and slowly and weakly clawing at the air, trying to grab someone or something that could save them from their fate of misery and despair. Baekhyun saw red streaks fall from the god's eyes; he was crying tears of blood from hearing the dead’s cries and being unable to answer.

 

"This is why. Many souls regret ending their lives and their purpose for existence is lost. They yearn to go out and live a life of color, not one where they are kept in the dark. They wish they never cut their life short before their planned time. The last person who committed suicide here, I was able to revive and erase his memory of the accident. That was only because he had no regrets, and he was not able to become aimless or lost. He regained color himself. It was not the case for these souls," the God said solemnly, gesturing towards the creatures under his cloak.

 

Baekhyun was shocked. Was this the afterlife? Was this only for lost souls?

 

“This probably would have happened to you if you decided to one day end your life.” 

 

Baekhyun turned around to Chanyeol, who had a placid and expressionless face besides the glint of sympathy in his eyes. He was looking at the creatures underneath the god’s cloak. When the god noticed, he pulled down his cloak to cover the souls, and the moans and the grabbing were gone. 

 

“Most people commit suicide because they do not know what lies before them in the afterlife. They do not care, because they are blinded with the current situation in their miserable life. Things will get better if you keep a mind of positivity and wait for it all to past. Suicide is  _ never _ the answer. Are we clear?”

 

Baekhyun gulped down, because the last question and the tone it was asked in was pretty intimidating. He nodded quickly and the God of Suicide seemed to back away a little. His tears of blood were gone and there were no more trails of wet red running on his face. 

 

“Have a good life, Byun Baekhyun,” the God of Suicide said, disappearing. 

 

Baekhyun was too embarrassed to face Chanyeol, but those worries dissipated when Baekhyun felt a hand on his back and turned around to see Chanyeol’s face of understanding and acceptance. 

 

“You good?” Chanyeol asked, starting to walk towards the boat. 

 

Baekhyun nodded. “Sorry you had to hear about that.”

 

“It’s okay. Not everyone is happy,” Chanyeol answered. “Let’s go to the next destination, shall we?” the giant asked, holding out his hand.

 

Baekhyun smiled and took it, as Chanyeol helped guide Baekhyun through the rocks and onto the bank of the acidic lake. Getting onto the boat took forever, because they wanted to completely make sure their foot wouldn’t touch the liquid, or that they wouldn’t fall in. The boat was amazing and it felt heavy and smooth to be in; it was a surprise that it wasn’t sinking or slowly melting away from the acid. 

 

Chanyeol rowed, while Baekhyun sat in the back, watching. He felt a little bad, but Chanyeol seemed like he wanted to do all the work, so Baekhyun stopped asking if he needed help since Chanyeol would always decline. At least he was good at rowing; Baekhyun would have probably forced the boat to turn in circles.

 

“There’s a different light over there!” Baekhyun yelled out, pointing at a very colorful light over the acidic sanitizer. “There must be an opening!” 

 

“We’re almost there. The next place is really colorful; it will probably shock your eyes,” Chanyeol warned. 

 

When Chanyeol rounded the boat around the corner of the cave, beautiful reds, blues, yellows, greens, and every other color were in spectrum. 


	16. The Forest of Weird Fruit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fruit grown in odd ways you've seen none to all

Apples that grow on trees

Singhara that thrives in seas

Watermelons that grow in the ground

What if it's all the other way around?

 

Chanyeol kept rowing until the boat hit land. The dirt was almost black, but for the most part, it was covered in red and orange leaves. Baekhyun looked all around him; way up high, there were trees that had blue and purple leaves and the plants on the ground were yellow and green. This was the most beautiful forest he had ever seen, but Chanyeol was right, since it hurt his eyes a little.

 

“Let’s get through?” Chanyeol suggested. “Before you go blind from all these bright colors?” 

 

Baekhyun laughed as he followed Chanyeol’s lead. After a few steps, he began to notice there were different kinds of fruits all around, but something was not right…

 

He finally said something when he saw apples on the ground. “What a waste, those apples look so good…”

 

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun with confusion. “Why is it a waste?”

 

“They’re on the ground. I don’t know, when apples fall from the trees, I don’t like to pick them. I like picking them from the trees if I go apple picking.”

 

“Apples grow on trees?”

 

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol incredulously. “... Yes…” 

 

Chanyeol stopped walking and went over to the apples. “But look,” he said, pointing at the ground. “The stems are attached to the ground. Apples grow on the ground, what nonsense are you spurting?”

 

Baekhyun came over and saw that indeed, the stems were rooted into the ground. There weren’t even any rotting apples to show that they were dying from not being attached to a tree. Baekhyun was absolutely puzzled. 

 

“Let’s continue walking, you will see more,” Chanyeol suggested as he turned back onto the path.

 

As they kept walking, the fruits and their growing methods became more and more ridiculous. Berries were also growing from place to place, but they grew regularly on stalks that were close to the ground or bushes. “This is the Forest of Weird Fruit. You won’t understand why it’s called that until you see the Buddha’s hand fruit. That thing is freaky.” Chanyeol shuddered just thinking about it. “It grows on the ground, and if you are unlucky, sometimes it moves.”

 

As they continued walking, Baekhyun noticed the trees were bending lower and lower. He looked up to see something orange and huge just above his head. “Are these pumpkins growing on trees?”

 

Chanyeol looked up. “Yup!”

 

“Don’t they fall? They could fall on someone’s head and they could die.”

 

Chanyeol’s shifted backwards to grab Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Which is why you  _ shouldn’t  _ stand underneath them,” he said with a chuckle. 

 

Beside the pumpkins, there were many yellow and spiky-looking fruits. This was a dangerous area to walk in. “Chanyeol, what about the yellow ones?”

 

“Those are blowfish fruit, also known as the African horned cucumber. It’s pretty good.” Baekhyun made a face. He didn’t know these fruits at all. When he gets back to his normal life, he should probably browse the supermarkets more instead of going straight for the instant-cook ramen section. 

 

“Want to try anything? I can tell you which ones are poisonous and which ones are not,” Chanyeol offered. Baekhyun felt a little queasy when he heard there were poisonous fruit here too. Their appearances were already questionable so Baekhyun declined the offer.

 

Past the trees, Baekhyun could see a sparkling blue, and he knew it could be water (or after that acidic sanitizer, just a body of mysterious liquid). “Chanyeol, is that water?” 

 

One nod, and Baekhyun ran ahead of Chanyeol to see the beautiful view of the rainbow colors being reflected on the water. Light was shining from the sun of this world onto the water and Baekhyun was glad he had seen a sight like this. He needed a little more color and shine in his old life. 

 

A closer look and he could see all types of melons were floating above the water. More spiky looking fruits were on another side of the lake, and Baekhyun recognized it as durian. It was a lot more sharper than the horned cucumber and had darker colors of green and brown. 

 

“Is that even good for the melons?”

 

“What is?”

 

“Them growing in the water?”

 

“Why wouldn’t it be? That’s how it grows.”

 

“... Oh.”

 

Baekhyun continued to stare at the water; the melons and the spiked fruits growing in them was a strange, yet aesthetic picture. It would have been so so nice to take a picture of this.

 

“As much as this looks beautiful, I’d think that you’d want to get a move on,” Chanyeol advised, putting an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders and walking. Baekhyun was so comfortable with Chanyeol’s arms around him and was glad that the taller didn’t pull away when they were both back onto the path and walking.

 

“Do you like this place?” Baekhyun asked out of curiosity. 

 

“Hm, this place as in the forest of this place as in this world in general?”

 

“This world in general.”

 

Chanyeol pursed his lips and blew air out of his nose. “I honestly don’t know what I’m doing here. I already forgot how I got here and I guess I just stayed here. My room of elements was beautiful to me, but once I realized how dangerous that room was to outsiders, I was already stuck there.”

 

“It’s dangerous everywhere here. It’s also dangerous in my universe, but in a different way. There are no blocks trying to push me off a path to my death, or acidic bodies of sanitizer that can melt my skin off my bones, but there are dangerous people who steal, lie, and kill because they are greedy.”

 

“The people here are dangerous too. They like to play tricks on outsiders.”

 

“No, that’s fun and games. The people in my world are far more dangerous. I don’t know how, but this world just made me appreciate my life even more.”

 

Chanyeol smiled. “I’m glad.” However, his face fell and his walking halted, when he saw a head of curly, brown hair behind a bush of lemons. 

 

A familiar singer’s head completely popped up from behind the bush when he heard movement in his surroundings. His face smiled with delight when he realized it was Baekhyun and Chanyeol. “哈哈哈，这是你们!” 

 

Baekhyun groaned. “How did he get here?” 

 

“He must have left after us when he cracked the glass. He does that often.”

 

“No, but how did he get here before us?” 

 

“Abuja,” the singer briefly said with a smirk playing on his face.

 

“I don’t know what he said, but the answer should be ‘shortcuts’. He knows his way around when it comes to getting to this forest.”

 

“Cytryny są dobre dla Ciebie! Dlaczego nie można odebrać niektóre?” 

 

Chanyeol ignored the brunette and continued,  “I heard that he always tells his friends that lemons are good for you. That is why he always brings it back with him to the cube. It’s good for his singing I guess.” 

 

Baekhyun nodded at the singer and shyly waved goodbye, before the singer could get angry and throw a lemon at his face this time. The singer pouted and went back to picking his lemons.

 

Slowly, the bushes turned from lemons to other fruits. “Mangosteen and ackee,” Chanyeol had said. “The mangosteen is also pretty good.”

 

“I’m 10,000 percent sure I don’t want to try these foods, so you can stop trying to advertise them to me,” Baekhyun replied. Chanyeol held his hands up defensively and tried to say he was doing no such thing while laughing.

 

Up ahead, there were two regular bushes — no weird color or an abnormal fruits growing on them — blocking the path. They were about waist high, and they seemed well cared for and tended to. “These two bushes mark the end of the Forest of Weird Fruit. It could also mark the beginning, if you are coming in from this side, but this is it.” Chanyeol held Baekhyun’s hand as he walked through where the two bushes ended. 

 

As Baekhyun followed suit, he was amazed with the pure white and gold splendor that he now stood in front of.


	17. The Hall of Pillars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hall of pillars that stands magnificent and tall

The hall was magnificent and beautiful. Tall white pillars rose on either side of the marble path, and beyond them a beautiful view of an ocean on one side and an island full of lush trees and green grass on the other. However, the place did not look familiar to Baekhyun at all — it was too beautiful to exist in the real world. The hall itself was beautiful, white marble decorated with some gold strips.

 

Far, far, far ahead, two huge white double doors stood closed off, also decked out in golden detail, gold handles, gold patterns. It was as if it was an entrance to a royal castle — it would not be hard to believe with all the beautiful scenery surrounding it. 

 

“Are you done gawking at the hall’s beauty? Shall we start walking?” Chanyeol teased the shorter, who scowled when he was talked out of it. Baekhyun started walking with his nose held high, evident that he was mock-offended that he could not even admire the hall in peace. Chanyeol chuckled at his silliness. 

 

_ Booomm... Boom Boom…  _ A crash resounded and rumbled off into the distance.

 

Baekhyun looked past the pillars and out into the open. It was not cloudy or dark, and no sign of a storm. Was there thunder on a sunny day?

 

They passed about three columns when Baekhyun saw a flash of pink move past behind the pillars. He slowed his walking a little, wondering if he saw wrong and if his eyes were playing tricks on him. “Is something wrong?” Chanyeol asked, a little worriedly. 

 

“I thought I saw something,” Baekhyun replied. 

 

“Well, you were right,” a voice from behind spoke up.

 

The two companions turned around quickly in synch, and they saw a tall pink-haired boy leaning against a pillar on the left side of the hall. He waved a hi at them, making Baekhyun flinch a little because it was not a warm welcome at all. 

 

“What are you doing here, following us from behind the pillars?” Baekhyun demanded to know. Chanyeol started to nudge him a little, to urge him to keep walking ahead slowly. 

 

“This is where I reside, of course I can do whatever I want here,” came a cold response. The pink-haired boy followed them, passing two columns before he disappeared.

 

_ Where did he go? _

 

“The real question is, what are you doing here?” came a voice from the other side of the hall. The pink-haired boy appeared again from behind the columns, making Baekhyun and Chanyeol turn to the right to see him.  _ How did he manage to cross to the other side without us seeing?  _ Baekhyun thought.

 

“We’re looking for a way to get him home,” Chanyeol said, gesturing towards Baekhyun. 

 

The pink haired boy snorted. “Has anyone ever come out of here alive?” The question sent an electric chill down Baekhyun’s spine and throughout his body, and he saw the pink-haired boys lips curl into a smirk. He’s enjoying making him scared. 

 

“Walk forward,” Chanyeol commanded.

 

Baekhyun turned around and walked, and saw that the boy disappeared on the right side, only to appear on the left side again. “Why does your boyfriend seem like in such a rush to leave? Stay; it’ll be fun here,” he said in a smooth voice, coaxing Baekhyun into agreeing.

 

Baekhyun could feel his cheeks burning with a bright red. “HE’S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!” he spluttered out. “And why would I want to stay here?” 

 

“It’s fun here!! You can do whatever you want!!” He said, appearing on the right side of the hall again, a little more enthusiastically than when he was on the left. 

 

Chanyeol leaned down next to Baekhyun’s ear. “Don’t you notice anything strange?”

 

“I do, but I just can’t figure it out…” 

 

“What’s there to figure out? Everything in this place is strange, you just accept it and move on,” the pink-haired boy said on the left side. 

 

Baekhyun noticed the change in voice this time. “Your voice changes every time you switch sides.”

 

“Of course. It’s an effect of teleportation.” The voice on the right side. It’s higher.

 

What came out of his mouth went without thinking. “But that’s not what happened to the first guy I met.”  _ That’s right…  _ Baekhyun remembered the smoky room with mirrors… 

 

“The first guy is different.” The voice on the left side. It speaks with a slight lisp. 

 

“Are you lying? Stop playing pranks!” 

 

The boy was still on the left and he scoffed. “Even if a prank is being played on you, it wouldn’t kill you. Stop being so uptight.” 

 

“You people are dangerous here,” Baekhyun muttered.

 

“What was that? Did you say something?” He said on the right side of the hall.

 

Chanyeol spoke while looking ahead. “Don’t listen, it’s going to get you mad. The words that are being said are provoking you and you getting angry is exactly what they want.”

 

_ They? Who’s they? _

 

The pink haired boy was now on the left and sarcastically said out loud, “Of course not! Don’t listen to him, he’s so cynical and wary about everything.”

 

He disappeared and reappeared on the right. “Loosen up and have fun!” His tone had become more bubbly and happier again.

 

They were finally a few feet away from the door when Chanyeol’s voice rang loud and clear throughout Baekhyun’s head, so clear that Baekhyun had to stop walking. He had said in the Room of Elements,

 

_ “In any case, whether you like it or not, I’m going to have to stick with you, because you’re stuck here, in a world where there are people who play tricks and have different unique abilities. It’s my job to help you get out.” _

 

_ Different abilities — this boy can’t have teleportation… that’s what the first guy had. _

 

_ People who play tricks…  _

 

_ "What I'm telling you is be careful. There are so many people here who like to play tricks on outsiders here. My best friend, he likes pranking people with his brother. And they do it just for the pure fun of it. Be careful." _

 

“The two of you can come out now,” Baekhyun called out, still facing the door. 

 

Instead of one, two boys came out, each from behind a column on different sides of the hall. 

 

“Ah, the differences are more prominent, now that you guys are right next to each other.” 

 

First of all, one was taller than the other. The one who came from the left side of the hall had an indifferent look, as if he did not have fun doing the prank at all. He was very handsome, even if he had pink hair, and his jawline was sharp and set.

 

The boy from the right seemed too excited, happy even, that the both of them had been caught. His eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and delight. If he had longer hair, he would have been mistaken as a very pretty girl, as his features were more feminine than the boy on the left. He looked like a character that jumped straight out of a manga book. 

 

“Are you the two brothers the taxi driver was talking about?

 

“Taxi driver?! YOU’VE RECENTLY SEEN MY BEST FRIEND?! HOW IS HE?!” The shorter pink-haired boy cried out.

 

“He’s the one who told me about pranksters like you,” Baekhyun said scornfully. 

 

“I’m glad to hear he’s doing fine!” the excited one cried out. “What about the God of Suicide? Have you seen the man in a black cloak yet?”

 

“God of Suicide?” A spark lit up in the taller boy’s eyes, and in 0.00001 seconds, his face went blank again. Almost as if he remembered something, but it slipped away from him before he could fully grasp onto it. 

 

“Eek!” The shorter one squeaked. He ran to Baekhyun’s side and cupped his hand to whisper in his ear. “If you’ve seen him, keep him away!!” He scuttled back to his brother’s side. 

 

Baekhyun shrugged. The shorter brother seemed to be freaked out about The God of Suicide, so Baekhyun figured he could mess with him, too, as revenge for pranking him first. “Maybe.”

 

“ _ ‘Maybe’ _ ?!” the brother shrieked, too high for his liking.

 

The taller one broke in, “Maybe what?” He turned to his right. “Hyung, I heard you from there; keep who away?”

 

“Hahahaha, it’s nothing!! Baekhyun, it’s best you be on your way with your boyfriend now!! Toodle-loo!!” He turned around and started sprinting down the hall, back to where they started. The taller pink-haired boy sighed and starting jogging to catch up to his brother.

 

"STOP CALLING HIM MY BOYFRIEND!!!" Baekhyun shouted out after him, hoping it reached the ears of the shorter brother. He groaned and turned towards the door, only to find Chanyeol in front of him, looking at me curiously.

 

"Hmm, what's so bad about me being called your boyfriend?" Chanyeol asked. “Isn’t that what I should be called now that we are past what happened in the Room of Vessels?”

 

Baekhyun's cheeks flushed a deep red, and it was such a bad situation because:

 

1) the lighting was so nice, Chanyeol probably saw him blushing before he even realized himself

2) if he turned around, Chanyeol would probably only spin him back around to face him

3) if he turned to the side, Chanyeol would still see him blushing.

 

Baekhyun felt like crawling under a rock. 

 

“Uhhhhhh, nothing! Nothing is wrong with that… just uh, you know…they don’t have to know… cause they don’t know us… yeah...” Baekhyun’s tongue was in a knot, before he looked over Chanyeol’s shoulder in desperation to change the topic. “LOOK! The door’s right there! We should make our way in now.” Baekhyun sped past the taller, and to the door.

 

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun walking ahead and laughed a little before following behind.


	18. The Luxury Hall of Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A grand luxury hall where you are what you eat

The hall was just as magnificent as the Hall of Pillars — nothing short. There were long tables with tablecloths the color of white and peach covering each and every single one of them. Chairs matched in color and gold components; Chandeliers hung overhead and there were banisters that looked down upon the tables. There were intricate designs carved into the ceilings and the pillars that rose along the walls. Food was decked onto each table, overflowing with all kinds of vegetables, meats, breads, and sweets. 

 

When Baekhyun took his eyes off of the tables, he realized the hall was longer than he thought. It was not an ordinary room; it was too huge to be. It must have cost billions to build and design this room. Think about how much more money the hall needed to be filled with this much food in his universe. There was literally a chocolate fountain sitting a few tables away from Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

 

“Alright, no matter what you do, do not eat the food,” Chanyeol ordered.

 

If Baekhyun were to be honest, looking at the food made him drool a little on the inside, so when he saw a few cups of water on one table, he drank some to ward off his now drying mouth. Even though he was not hungry or thirsty, he still wanted something from the table. Chanyeol said only no to food right? Drinks must have been okay. Water doesn’t even taste like anything.

 

Chanyeol can say whatever he wants to say, he probably wouldn’t care anyway right? Chanyeol doesn’t even need him to continue on this journey. He hadn’t even turned around yet and noticed that Baekhyun had stopped walking. Baekhyun dropped to the ground and sat, refusing to move forward with the tall giant. 

 

After a few seconds, Chanyeol looked at behind him to check on Baekhyun, only to find the shorter on the floor, looking like he was going to throw a tantrum. “Baekhyun, are you okay? Is there something wrong with your legs?” 

 

“NO, THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY HEART!! AND MY FEELINGS!!” Baekhyun cried out, leaving Chanyeol to have a puzzled look on his face. 

 

“What?” 

 

“Why didn’t you just keep walking? You don’t need me with you anyway…” Baekhyun looked like he was going to tear up any minute now.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I— Baekhyun, did you take anything from the table?” 

 

“You don’t need to know!!”

 

“I’m asking if you took anything from the table,” Chanyeol asked in a calm voice. “Didn’t you listen to what I told you?” 

 

“YOU ONLY SAID NO FOOD!!” 

 

“Dammit, Baek,” Chanyeol cursed, now walking towards Baekhyun. However, before he could reach him, the shorter got up and ran back in the direction they came from. “BAEKHYUN!! WHAT DID YOU DRINK?!” 

 

“YOU NEVER APPRECIATE ANYTHING I SAY OR DO, WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU?”

 

“Unappreciated…” Chanyeol thought to himself. “You drank water, didn’t you? Of course you drank water.” He smacked his head, regretting not watching Baekhyun earlier. “Alright, whatever you do, do not eat anything else or even drink anything else!” 

 

“YOU PROBABLY WON’T APPRECIATE IT EVEN IF I LISTENED TO YOU, SO DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!” Baekhyun shouted from across the room. Stopping at a certain table, Baekhyun picked up a huge plate of curry or soup or whatever it was, and lifted it to his face. The food was gone, either on the floor or in Baekhyun’s stomach, but to Chanyeol’s horror, he saw there were peppers in the dish. 

 

“Fuck.”

 

Baekhyun’s face became full of rage and anger, and Chanyeol panicked a little inside. “Baek, I want you to calm down, even if it’s just for a second. Let’s not do anything irrational, now.” 

 

“WHY AM I NOT OUT OF THIS WORLD YET?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KEEP ME HOSTAGE HERE?!” 

 

“Alright, you know that’s not true!! We were going to just pass by this room!!”

 

“WHY ARE WE MOVING SO SLOW!! YOU’RE INCOMPETENT AND USELESS!!” Baekhyun immediately picked up a small plate and chucked it in Chanyeol’s direction. The taller was able to duck behind a table and heard a resounding shatter on the wall behind him. 

 

“Baek, oh my gosh, okay, at this point I think I want you to eat something else,” Chanyeol pleaded.

 

“SHUT UP!! DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!”

 

Chanyeol thought for a second. “OKAY, FINE, DON’T EAT ANYTHING!!” He shouted back, using reverse psychology on the raging boy. 

 

“I JUST FUCKING TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!” Baekhyun roared and ran to another table to pick up a huge, weird looking bottle. The contents were green.  _ Please be pickle juice, please be pickle juice, please be pickle juice…  _

 

When Baekhyun was done drinking, he set the bottle down, pulled out a chair and sat down. By the time Chanyeol reached the table, Baekhyun looked like he was going to pass out. He peered over at the bottle and was shocked to see there were more contents in the bottle, even without the liquid.

 

A preserved snake lied curled up in the finished bottle. Chanyeol was going to throw up at the thought of Baekhyun downing the whole thing down. 

 

All of a sudden, Baekhyun shot up. “You know what’s good?! Pizza with soy sauce!” 

 

_ He’s in a weird mood… like that weird snake wine… _

 

"WHAT HOLY GRANNY SHEEP, GO TREAD HIM BUTTOCKS!"

 

“Baekhyun, what the hell?” 

 

“If you don’t mind, excuse me, while I go sit over there by the wall, upside-down.” Baekhyun pushed his way past a bewildered Chanyeol and was about to take his place against the wall, when the taller snapped back into his senses and stopped him before he could have blood rush to his head.

 

“Baekhyunnnnn, we still have a long way to go before we leave this hall. Let’s go, yes?” 

 

“Sure, Channie, whatevah you say,” Baekhyun agreed. Chanyeol took him by the hand and began walking again. However, a few steps and Baekhyun was already munching on something else. Chanyeol groaned, taking the rest of the octopus tentacles and throwing them across the room.

 

“Please, no more eating,” Chanyeol asked of Baekhyun.

 

“Channie, are you mad?” Baekhyun asked, tears brimming in his eyes. Chanyeol didn’t know what answer back. Anything he says might be the wrong answer. “You’re not going to break up with me, are you?!” Abruptly, Baekhyun was able to get out of Chanyeol’s grip and he wrapped his arms around Chanyeol’s waist. Chanyeol tried to get his arms off, but it wasn’t happening. The octopus tentacles made Baekhyun clingy and binding to him. 

 

“You know what would make me happy?”

 

“Hm?” Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol with earnest eyes, still clinging onto him.

 

Chanyeol looked at the most normal looking food on the table and he found pizza. He grabbed it and held it in front of Baekhyun. “If you eat this pizza, I swear, we will be together forever.”

 

Baekhyun grabbed the pizza from Chanyeol in dangerously fast and hazard way and stuffed it in his mouth. “I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together. Oh wait, I think I am a photographer.”

 

Chanyeol realized cheesy was what Baekhyun would become if he ate the cheese pizza, and now he was spurting out cheesy pick up lines. Chanyeol restrained himself from banging his head on the table and settled for a smack to the head instead. 

 

“Are you a fruit, because Honeydew you know how fine you look right now?” 

 

“Let’s go,” Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s hand again and continued walking.

 

“Your hand looks heavy. Let me hold it for you! Oh wait… you’re holding mine already… If you were a steak you would be well done! THERE’S STEAK OVER THERE! CAN I HAVE SOME!!”

 

“Nope, let’s keep walking.”

 

Baekhyun pouted, but that didn’t stop him from continuing on with the pick up lines. “You're so hot, I could bake cookies on you.”

 

“Aight, that’s it,” Chanyeol exclaimed. He grabbed the nearest food and stuffed it in his mouth to shut him up. In a second, whatever Chanyeol stuffed in Baekhyun’s mouth was gone and the shorter looked a little dazed.

 

“Sorry,” Baekhyun apologized. “I don’t know what just happened. I feel like I’m bipolar or I have multiple-personality disorder or something.” 

 

Was he finally back to normal? Chanyeol looked at the table where he grabbed the food. 

 

Bread. Plain bread.

 

Baekhyun was back to himself. 

 

_ Bread _ . 

 

Why didn’t Chanyeol think of that earlier? 

 

Chanyeol gave out a tired laugh. “Yeah, in the Luxury Hall of Food, you are what you eat. Literally.”

 

“What does that even mean? How does that happen?”

 

“I don’t know how, but I can give you examples. If you drank soda, you would become a bubbly person, since soda drinks can be described as bubbly. If you ate candy, you would become a sweet person and nicer I guess. When you ate the peppers in that dish, you became angry, since peppers are hot and hot usually equals angry personality-wise.”

 

“I am not touching food on these tables any time soon,” Baekhyun shuddered. “That snake wine though.”

 

“Oh yeah, how was that?” 

 

“It was very weird.”

 

“Yeah, well, so were you after you drank it.”

 

Baekhyun shrugged. “Sorry. Hey, let’s hurry up! The door’s just right there!” The shorter ran full speed ahead. Reaching the door, he urged Chanyeol to hurry up before swinging the doors open.


	19. The Gallery of Kricasso

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gallery of Kricasso, who never admits defeat

“Are we back in the art museum?!” Baekhyun yelled out so loudly, that Chanyeol flinched. 

 

“I don’t think this is the art museum you were in before,” Chanyeol replied. “These pictures are childish. And assuming you are a professional photographer, you must’ve been in a professional museum, not a kids’ playground.”

 

“Hey, art is expression. And, actually, the museum I was in had childish pieces of artwork. I took pictures of them, but I have no clue where my camera went after I was knocked out.”

 

Chanyeol walked forward to the center of the room, where there was a display of a tree. Baekhyun stayed close behind and looked at it. “What is it?” 

 

“The Tree of Life,” Chanyeol answered without taking his eyes off of it. “I’m not sure what this is doing here, since it is really important. How can it just sit here in the middle of the gallery without any glass case protection?”

 

“Why does it need protection?”

 

“If someone takes it and destroys it, that would be very bad.”

 

“How so —”

 

A beep could be heard. Baekhyun and Chanyeol turned to where the noise came from and saw an intercom. “Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the Gallery of Kricasso. He is currently unavailable right now, but feel free to explore and admire his paintings. He was inspired by another famous painter called Picasso — not Pikachu, Picasso. Word of warning: please do not touch the Tree of Life in the center of the room. Please enjoy. That is all. Thank you.”

 

“What happens if you touch it?”

 

“I think you get buckets of paint dumped on you. It’s really painful to move when it dries. You really don’t want that happening.”

 

“Okay…” Baekhyun looked around. “It’s a dead end. How are we going to move on?” 

 

“I don’t see anything either. Let’s just look at his paintings until something shows up.”

  
  


“What is  _ that _ ?”

 

“I just asked myself the same question.”

 

“Are you sure this guy is an artist, because that is not artistic. I lied before, this isn’t even childish, it’s just  _ bad _ .”

 

“Don’t say that… maybe he’s found out about a new microorganism… Uh,” Chanyeol hesitated and struggled to defend the artist, “like you said, artists have their own way of expressing themselves. You should know this as a photographer.”

  
  


“…  I have no clue as to what that is…” 

 

Baekhyun snorted. “Good thing that artist isn’t here right now. I wouldn’t know what to say if we had to tell him what we thought.”

  
  


“Hey, this one is kinda cute,” Baekhyun cooed at the drawing. “Even though I can’t tell what it is… Maybe a fox?”

 

“Why doesn’t the author label his drawing, sheesh,” Chanyeol muttered. 

 

“What is that over there?” Baekhyun asked, pointing at a painting across the room. “It’s like the only one that has color.”

 

Chanyeol took his eyes off the drawing of the fox-like creature and looked over at what Baekhyun was pointing at. “Woah, and it has detail. Do you think Kricasso drew this?” 

 

“I don’t know, maybe. If not, what is it doing here?” 

 

“Maybe he got tired of drawing those weird animal sketches,” Chanyeol suggested. 

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol stood together in front of the painting and examined it. It had an indigo sky and lightning flashed across it. There were a couple of dead trees and cracks on the dry ground, and there were also huge stones and rocks. The two most prominent elements of the painting were a dragon breathing fire and a knight guarding himself with a shield. 

 

Baekhyun swore he saw the knight move, even if it was just a tiny movement. He hasn’t gone crazy yet; he knows what he saw. “Chanyeol, the knight moved!!” Baekhyun leaned a little more forward to examine the painting a little closer.

 

“Maybe, but — BAEKHYUN!!” 

 

Baekhyun lost his balance and leaned too far into the painting. Normally, he would have crashed into the painting and it would have fallen from the wall. However, this place is not normal, so he was sent tumbling down into the depths of flashing lightning and roaring fire.


	20. The Knight and the Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The knight fighting the dragon, life of rebirth is what he chose

As Baekhyun felt the air whoosh underneath him and the ground grew closer and closer, Baekhyun prayed he would be exempt from death this time around. He didn’t want to get struck by lightning in midair, he didn’t want to fall to the ground and break his neck and vertebrae, and he most certainly did not want to fall into the open mouth of a dragon. 

 

As the ground grew closer and closer and Baekhyun realized the spot he was going to land was where the knight was standing. 

 

“Watch out!!” 

 

The knight’s metal helmet turned to look up at where the screaming came from. He dropped his shield while the dragon was still distracted (‘ _ with that mysterious thing falling out of the sky’ _ ) and held out his arms to catch Baekhyun.

 

For sure that would break his arms.

 

Baekhyun plummeted straight into metal vambraces and gauntlets, which miraculously held up. The fall was a little uncomfortable on his back, but at least the knight looked okay. Baekhyun stared into the visor of the helmet, and the knight seemed to be staring back, but they were interrupted by Chanyeol’s shouting.

 

“HEY! THAT’S MY BOYFRIEND YOU ARE LAYING YOUR EYES ON!!” 

 

The knight immediately let go of Baekhyun, who grunted as he fell to the floor on his butt and his back. 

 

“I DIDN’T SAY TO DROP HIM!!”

 

Baekhyun looked up and glowered at Chanyeol, who still must’ve been in the gallery. His head was peeking inside from a single white square in the dark sky.

 

“BAEKHYUN, ARE YOU OKAY?” 

 

“I’M FINE. I THINK.”

 

“STAY AWAY FROM THE DRAGON,” Chanyeol ordered him. “I WILL BE RIGHT BACK WITH A ROPE TO GET YOU OUT OF THERE!!” And then his head disappeared.

 

“CHANYEOL, WAIT!! WHAT DO I DO HERE?!” He was already gone. “Damn.” 

 

Baekhyun felt his clothes being pulled back by the air, and it gave him a sense of deja vu. Just like in the Room of Doors, where the cave monster was breathing in and out. 

 

Baekhyun was too scared to turn around, but when he did, he saw a huge scaly snout and two flared holes, that probably were nostrils. He looked past the mouth and came into contact with yellow eyes. 

 

“Do. Not. Move.” Baekhyun heard a faint whisper. 

 

The dragon continued sniffing until it drew back a little. It straightened and opened it’s mouth. Baekhyun prayed this is the end when he saw the dragon’s throat heat up and become a fiery red in between the scales.

 

“GET BACK!!” 

 

In an instant, the knight threw the full-body shield in front of the two of them as fire came into contact with the protection. Baekhyun could feel the glaring heat as it blazed past them and around the shield. The dragon fired at the long enough to make him sweat.

 

The dragon roared and the heat stopped. The knight grabbed Baekhyun and ran, while the dragon was still occupied. “We have to get to a higher point.”

 

Baekhyun looked back at the dragon and saw it was not following. “Why isn’t it coming after us?”

 

The knight lifted the visor of his helmet and looked back at the dragon. “It’s waiting for us to get to a higher vantage point,” he smirked. “It wants a challenge.” 

 

“So why are we doing what the dragon wants?!” Baekhyun shrieked.

 

“Otherwise it will just eat us here on the ground,” the knight deadpanned.

 

They reached the bottom of a plateau. The knight started climbing, so Baekhyun followed. 

 

Halfway up, the knight stopped and looked down to see Baekhyun’s face. “So,” he called out, “you think my drawings are bad?” 

 

Baekhyun’s eyes widened as he looked up. “What?”

 

“ _ ‘My drawings aren’t even childish, they are just bad.’ _ ”

 

“You heard all that? You’re the artist?”

 

The knight nodded.

 

Baekhyun gulped. “Will you feed me to the dragon if I say the truth?”

 

The knight laughed. “Of course not. I have an explanation that I will tell you when we reach the top.” He lifted his head and focused on climbing, and Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief.

 

When Baekhyun reached the top, the knight help pulled him up onto the flat surface. “You good?” 

 

Baekhyun nodded and thanked him for helping him up. The knight took off his helmet and threw it on the ground. Baekhyun noticed his eyebrows made him look a little angry, so he wasn’t sure if the knight was upset with him about his paintings. However, the knight was really handsome, as if he were a prince, who was dressed as a knight in shining armor to save a princess; he had very sharp chiseled features that made him seem very manly. He also had blondish brown hair that was styled very nicely, despite just having worn a helmet. 

 

“Where’s the dragon?” 

 

The knight shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s the hardest painting I’ve ever interacted with.”

 

“What?”

 

“See, I drew those “childish” paintings up there, so they wouldn’t be difficult like this beast,” the knight said exasperatedly. 

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“This is the first time I’ve drawn something as detailed as this,” the artist explained. “I’ve heard before that artists can interact with their masterpieces. All those animals up there were fun to interact with at first, since they were nice and friendly, but after a while they got boring. I wanted something that was concrete and real-looking, something like —”

 

“A dog,” Baekhyun deadpanned. “You could’ve just drawn  _ a dog _ .”

 

“Nah, dogs — not my style. This dragon is cool.” 

 

… Alright…

 

A loud roar resounded from behind them, and the knight instantly turned around and jabbed the sword straight into the dragon’s eye. The beast roared and retreated after the knight smoothly slid the sword out of its eye.

 

“WHY DID YOU STAB IT IN THE EYE!! YOU COULD’VE JUST STABBED IT’S HEAD AND IT WOULD HAVE DIED!!” 

 

“Eh,” the knight replied calmly. “Maybe next time.”

 

Baekhyun remembered something. “Are you perhaps the knight that the musician talked about?”

 

The knight looked at Baekhyun in shock. “How do you know I know a musician?” 

 

“I recognized it when you said ‘Maybe next time.’”

 

“Damn it, is that smacked musician still using my line?” the knight asked, raising his voice.

 

Baekhyun tried to defend the musician. “Uh, he caught himself!! He knows that he shouldn’t say it, but you know…”

 

The knight calmed down a little. “Yeah, I know. He’s high all the time; he forgets things easily.”

 

Baekhyun recalled the salvia smoke and the bubbles the musician loved to blow. Looking back on it, how had the musician retained the concentration to write music? With how high he’s gotten, he should’ve fell off the eighth note platform and into the pool with his water ghost friend. 

 

He was rudely awakened by his thinking. 

 

“WATCH OUT!!” 

 

The knight threw his shield in front of Baekhyun as a swirl of fire was about to engulf them. It was a few seconds of Baekhyun sweating behind the shield with closed eyes, but it finally stopped. 

 

Baekhyun was horrified with what met his eyes. The knight’s armor was melted on the ground beside the now fallen shield, and there were piles of ash all around.

 

The dragon had killed the knight. 

 

Baekhyun, with terrified eyes, looked at the dragon who was now staring at him. However, it made no move or no sound. Baekhyun had no clue of what to do. 

 

After a few moments, the dragon began to shrink with a groan. Baekhyun looked over the cliff at what was happening, and the dragon’s scales began to shift into metal. By the time it was all done, a knight’s armor was lying on the ground.

 

Then it moved. The armor sat up. 

 

Was the knight alive?

 

Baekhyun rushed past the melted armor and ashes, which appeared to be sizzling and popping, and he quickly climbed down the plateau. He rushed over to the knight, who was now standing and looking up at the plateau. 

 

“You! You’re alive?” Baekhyun shouted.

 

The knight lifted up the visor of his helmet, and sure enough the same angry-looking eyebrows were still there. “Mhm.”

 

“How is that possible?” 

 

“The dragon and I have some sort of rebirth cycle that happens when I die…” The knight explained while still looking up towards the plateau.

 

“But isn’t it that when you die, your existence ceases forever?”

 

The knight looked alarmed. “Chill, we’re in a painting!!” 

 

Baekhyun was taken aback by his response. “Okay… Then what about the dragon?”

 

“It’s going to rise from my ashes soon…” 

 

“WHAT?” 

 

“Also, I’ve never been able to kill the dragon, so I’m not sure if the reincarnation jazz goes the same vice versa… I hope it doesn’t — otherwise, I will be stuck in this painting fighting the dragon forever.” 

 

“…”

 

What luck.

 

The dragon’s roar could be heard from above the plateau. 

 

“BAEKHYUN!!” Baekhyun heard Chanyeol’s voice. He looked up into the sky and saw his lover’s head peeking through the white square. Subsequently, a long rope was thrown down right next to where Baekhyun was standing.

 

Baekhyun looked over at the knight, who nodded and encouraged him to go on. 

 

“What about the dragon?” 

 

“Don’t worry, it only wants to kill me. It will not bother you as you hang onto the rope.”

 

“BAEKHYUN, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” Chanyeol leaned in more to try to see Baekhyun more clearly. “WAIT, ARE YOU STILL TALKING TO HIM?! HEY!!”

 

The knight smirked. “Go. Lover boy is getting jealous.” The knight pushed his visor back on, and Baekhyun could no longer see his angry eyebrows or handsome face. 

 

“Alright,” Baekhyun paused before taking the rope. “Hey.”

 

The knight turned his head towards the person who called him.

 

“Thanks. For shielding me when the dragon spewed fire up there.”

 

The knight gave a brief nod before charging towards the plateau where the dragon was now growing back to normal height. Baekhyun grabbed the rope and tugged on it to indicate to Chanyeol he could not be pulled up. 

 

Baekhyun did not dare look down as he was being pulled up.


	21. The Labyrinth I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Then you go through the labyrinth...

“Almost — God, what, have you eaten recently?” Chanyeol grunted while pulling Baekhyun up. The small boy was nearly coming through the painting.

 

“I HAVEN’T EATEN ANYTH— wait,” Baekhyun stopped himself, remembering the stunt he pulled off in the Luxury Hall of Food. 

 

One last pull and Baekhyun was on the floor, next to a fallen Chanyeol. The taller was panting, trying to catch his breath; the burning sensation in his arms made him feel tired.

 

“Heh, sorry,” Baekhyun apologized. 

 

“How does one fall into a painting?” Chanyeol asked, turning his head to Baekhyun. He was sweating, drops falling down his forehead. 

 

“It just happened I guess,” Baekhyun shrugged and sat up. For the first time, he noticed his surroundings. For a second, he thought he was back in the Room of Mirrors; he remembered the same lighting and dim feeling. 

 

However, this place seemed more hopeless. It felt like a trap. The gray walls rose and hovered over them. It was not an open space; there were only two directions: forward and back. Baekhyun felt like it was a long corridor, but when he looked up, he saw there was a dark sky. It seemed as if it was a cloudy, stormy night. 

 

“Chanyeol, where are we?”

 

“The labyrinth. This is it.”

 

“What do you mean ‘this is it’?” Baekhyun questioned carefully, hearing the seriousness in the taller’s voice. 

 

“If we make it out alive, you are free to go home.”

 

Baekhyun widened his eyes. 

 

“How do you know?” 

 

“I can feel it. I just know.”

 

Was this for real? He could finally get back to his normal life and finally appreciate everything? He no longer had to live in danger in this world — this weird, weird place? 

 

But…

 

“What about you, Chanyeol? Are you able to leave this place?”

 

“I’m not sure, but if everything goes fine, I’ll probably be able to make it out of here with you.” 

 

Baekhyun’s heart burst with happiness; he could feel the colors flying around in his head. The thought about living a normal life with Chanyeol made him so hopeful and glad; he was so ecstatic about leaving this place with him together.

 

“Come on then, let’s go!!” Baekhyun said, excitedly, pulling Chanyeol along with him.

 

Baekhyun saw that the maze divided into two paths, but he wanted to continue running straight. That was an obvious no-no when he ran head-first into nothing and fell back to the ground. Unable to hold on, Chanyeol’s hand was pulled apart from Baekhyun’s due to the force that made him fall to the ground.

 

“Baek!!” Chanyeol leaned down to see if he was alright. “Where are you hit?” 

 

“Eughhhhhhh,” Baekhyun groaned, rubbing his head. “What the hell was that?” 

 

Chanyeol reached forward and came into contact with a rippling surface that distorted the picture of the maze in front of them. “An invisible force field.”

 

“You knew those were in here?” 

 

“… Yes…” 

 

“Why. Didn’t. You. Tell. Me. Sooner?????” Baekhyun seethed.  

 

Chanyeol shrugged. “You just dragged me without me being able to explain.” 

 

Baekhyun gave his head one last rub before standing up. “That really hurt,” he pouted. 

 

Chanyeol leaned down and kissed Baekhyun on the forehead. “Better?” 

 

“A little,” Baekhyun joked. 

 

Chanyeol found Baekhyun’s hand and intertwined their fingers together. Baekhyun smiled up at him while he led the way down the other path. “The force fields are beneficial; it tells us that we’re going the wrong way and to not continue going down that path.” 

 

“Ah, that makes me feel a little better; that makes it easier not to get stuck here, right?” 

 

Chanyeol looked a little uneasy. “I don’t exactly know how long this maze is, and I don’t know if anyone’s ever made it out. The force fields may make it easier, but there are other things to worry about.” 

 

“Like what?”

 

“I don’t think I want to tell you. It might scare you.” 

 

Baekhyun almost drowned in a pool, almost broke his back from being blown back by a powerful gust of wind, almost had his leg sawed off, almost became deaf because of a cave monster, and saw a carnivorous rooster eat hens; he’s pretty sure he’s not that scared of anything anymore. Maybe dying without getting to meet Chanyeol in the real world, but everything else was okay.

 

“I want to know,” Baekhyun stated firmly and confidently. 

 

Chanyeol took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. As they continued walking, he said, “Many people you have met along the way have gone in this labyrinth and they’ve never made it out. They gave up before they could reach the end, because they went crazy; they’ve gone mad. You’ve seen some of them. The guy who teleports? He talks in opposites now. The guy in the pool who tries to drown people? He can’t live normally without being in his own confined bubble.”

 

“Those people were stuck in here?” Baekhyun asked with disbelief.

 

“Yes, and they are still here in this world. I want you to always remember who you are and who I am and that your purpose in here is to reach the end. However, I don’t have the confidence to stay sane in here. If I can’t, I want you to go on without me.”

 

“Chanyeol, you know I can’t do that.”

 

Chanyeol only smiled. “Let’s just keep walking for now.” 

 

Looking around at the empty and desolate place, Baekhyun couldn’t help but wonder if Chanyeol had been alone in this place before. He thought back to his words about how others have gone in here, but haven’t made it out to the other side. "Have you been in here before?" Baekhyun asked.

 

"Hm, maybe a long time ago. I probably turned back before I could go completely crazy."

 

"What do you mean "maybe" and "probably"? You're talking as if you're not sure it didn't happen."

 

"Yeah, I'm not sure. It was a really long time ago,” Chanyeol repeated and shrugged. 

 

While continuing to walk, Chanyeol heard a weird sound; a sound that he hasn’t heard in a while. He looked down to say Baekhyun sheepishly trying to hide his face away. It sounded like a stomach growling from hunger, and Chanyeol knew it wasn’t his.

 

“Are you hungry?” 

 

Baekhyun turned to hide his face even more, continuing to walk on.

 

“Baek, answer; it’s important.” 

 

“Maybe…” 

 

Chanyeol looked uneasy. “I didn’t think it would be this soon.” When Baekhyun asked what he meant, he continued, “Remember when I said when you are closer to your world, you start feeling hungry, thirsty, sleepy, and all those other normal functions that you feel your body does on a daily basis?” 

 

“Oh yeah, I think I remember you mentioning something about that one time. Isn’t that a good thing?”

 

“No… no, it’s not a good thing. We are closer to the entrance than we are to the exit.”


	22. The Labyrinth II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... where everything comes to a close

After Chanyeol broke the bad news to Baekhyun, all they did was walk. They’ve detected multiple force fields to avoid crashing into the invisible walls, but all the paths were starting to look the same. Baekhyun couldn’t tell if they were progressing towards the exit or just walking around in circles. 

 

“How long do you think we’ve been walking now?”

 

“I can’t say for sure,” Chanyeol answered, “but a while. We’ve been walking for a while.” 

 

Tick.

 

Tick.

 

Tick.

 

Tick.

 

Baekhyun has been feeling this faint clicking feeling on his wrist and now that it was actually feeling stronger and bothering him, he forced himself to bring his hand to his face and actually look and see what was the problem. This was the third time he felt it, but there was nothing on his wrist but his watch.

 

This time, he saw movement. 

 

His watch was working. 

 

The seconds hand was moving. The time said it was 8:26 am. 

 

“What’s a matter?” Chanyeol asked, as he saw Baekhyun staring at his wrist with wide eyes. 

 

“My watch is working,” Baekhyun told him, “and it says it’s been moving for 16 hours.”

 

“16 hours is a lot, isn’t it?” a familiar voice interrupted Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Baekhyun whipped around to see a man with a head of pink hair. It was the feminine looking brother from the Hall of Pillars.

 

_ “Can you hear me?”  _

 

“What… what are you doing here?” Baekhyun asked. 

 

_ “Baekhyun.”  _

 

“Yeah, do we really have to bother them?” Baekhyun turned back around to see the other brother — the disinterested and emotionally blank one. 

 

_ “Listen to me!”  _

 

“Stop, I don’t want to deal with you two right now,” Baekhyun shouted.

 

Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s face with two hands and looked him straight in the eye. “Baekhyun, can you hear me? You’re hallucinating!! Snap out of it!”

 

Baekhyun’s eyes weren’t focused, but he could make out the brothers standing side by side with each other, mocking him and calling him crazy. They were ridiculing him that he still had to be babied by Chanyeol. 

 

_ “There’s no one there!”  _

 

“You wouldn’t be able to make it out of here alive without him,” the taller brother sneered.

 

_ “Focus!” _ Baekhyun felt a light tapping on his cheek.

 

“You would be alone, and you’d go insane just like us,” the other said delightedly. 

 

_ “Come on, Baek… I know you can do this…” _

 

“It’s okay… because I do need him…” Baekhyun whispered.

 

The voices were gone and everything was a bleak gray and black color again — no more bright pink hair or orange and light blue clothing. 

 

A throbbing pain was pulsing against his cheek and Chanyeol’s wide eyes met his. Relief flooded through the taller’s countenance and he heaved a deep sigh. Large arms instantaneously wrapped around his small body.

 

“I’m sorry about your cheek. I had to slap it to try to get you back here,” Chanyeol apologized sincerely. He pulled away to look at Baekhyun’s face and the regret in his eyes told the older that he must’ve really hated having to hit him. 

 

“It’s okay, Chanyeol. You did what you had to do.” 

 

When they both calmed down, they began walking again, this time, Chanyeol’s hand tightly holding onto Baekhyun’s. 

 

He never wants to let go.

 

Around 1 am, Baekhyun complained to Chanyeol, saying he was exhausted and that he just wanted to sleep. The taller agreed and sat down next to Baekhyun, as he lied down on the ground, finding a comfortable position to sleep in. Chanyeol resolved to staying awake and keeping an eye out, while Baekhyun lied down with his head on Chanyeol's lap.

 

Baekhyun was able to get in a few hours of sleep before his head hit the ground hard.

 

"Ow!" He woke up with a start. He looked up to where Chanyeol was still sitting beside him and was met with a cold stare. "What was that for?"

 

No response.

 

"Chanyeol?"

 

_ Kill him. Make him suffer. _

 

Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun by the neck and started to put pressure on it, cutting off oxygen from his airways.

 

"Chanyeol!" Baekhyun choked out, and struggled, punching him in the process and causing him to let go of his neck.

 

Chanyeol fell to the ground; the look of murder was in his eyes.

 

_ Destroy him. Annihilate him. _

 

Baekhyun finally realized Chanyeol was hallucinating and hearing things. “Chanyeol!! It’s me!! Baekhyun!! You know who I am!” 

 

Chanyeol didn’t take another second to lunge at Baekhyun, but the shorter threw himself to the side before they could collide with each other into the labyrinth’s wall. Baekhyun took this opportunity to go over to Chanyeol, who was now on the floor, and grab his face.

 

“CHANYEOL!! LISTEN TO ME!! DON’T YOU REMEMBER ME?” 

 

Chanyeol gripped Baekhyun’s shirt and flipped them over, so that he was on top now. There was no recognition in his face and Baekhyun felt trapped. Chanyeol was starting to raise his fist to knock out Baekhyun in the face.

 

“Chanyeol… no…”

 

Baekhyun was sure Chanyeol’s fist was going to come down and crush his face when he blurted out,

 

“I LOVE YOU!!” 

 

Baekhyun’s eyes were closed and he waited for the pain to register in his face, but it didn’t come. He hadn’t meant to say that phrase so early, but he realized he kind of meant it. If Chanyeol was going to knock him out and then kill him unconsciously, he wanted to let him know how he felt, even if he was in a deranged state.

 

“Baekhyun, I am  _ so _ sorry.”

 

Baekhyun opened his eyes to see Chanyeol covering his face in his hands, still sitting on top of him. Baekhyun could see tear tracks trickling down his hands and his arms, and he could feel the guilt emanating from him. 

 

Baekhyun sat up and wrapped his arms around the taller, giving him a hug and saying nothing else. 

 

After a few minutes, Baekhyun told him to rest. They both lied down next to each other and held each other until they woke up again a few hours later.

 

Chanyeol who has now significantly calmed down told Baekhyun that they should get a move on, so they started walking again.

 

Tick.

 

Tock.

 

Tick.

 

Tock.

 

It was beginning to ring in his ears. It was now 4 pm. 

 

_ Tick. _

 

_ Tock.  _

 

_ Tick. _

 

_ Tock. _

 

Baekhyun felt the walls closing in on him. He felt like he was stuck inside a huge grandfather clock. 

 

_ TICK. _

 

_ TOCK. _

 

_ TICK.  _

 

_ TOCK. _

 

It was echoing throughout his head and he was starting to have a massive headache. He couldn’t tell where exactly the sound was coming from since it was starting to get too loud. It sounded as if it was reverberating throughout the entire maze.

 

**_TICK._ **

 

**_TOCK._ **

 

**_TICK._ **

 

**_TOCK._ **

 

He forced Chanyeol’s hand away and ran a few feet back, falling to the floor and retching everything of what was left in his stomach. He felt something scaly and disgustingly solid work its way out of his system, as he threw it all up onto the floor. He saw what it was, as the snake from the wine he drank in the Luxury Hall of Food was covered in the vomit and was now starting to move around. Stopping in front of him, the snake twisted its body and hissed at him, baring its fangs. He was breathing heavily on all fours when he saw a puff of black smoke appear in front of him and the snake was now gone.

 

“You look like shit.” 

 

Baekhyun lifted his head weakly and saw the face of the man he first met in this crazy world — his first encounter. 

 

“You meant the opposite right? You’re saying I look great?” Baekhyun countered back, in ragged breaths. He was starting to feel the hunger in his stomach even more than before now and he felt as if the acid was eating his organs; he also realized his throat was dry.

 

“No, this place puts me at ease. I don’t have to talk in opposites here. You really look like shit.” 

 

Baekhyun tried to refocus his vision, since everything was becoming blurry. He felt too weak to get up from the ground and his limbs were refusing to help him stand up. He squinted at the man with silver hair.

 

“Are you real?”

 

The man laughed. “That’s a great question! Am I real? Are you real? Is this whole thing real?” 

 

“He’s not real,” a deep voice interrupted. 

 

“You don’t have to believe him, you know,” the man in black said in a coaxing voice. “Don’t you remember? I’m the first one you met here. You shouldn’t trust him.”

 

“But… I should… He’s Chanyeol…”

 

“You’ve just met him! I mean, you just met me too, but I am a much more trustworthy person. Believe my words, Baekhyun.” 

 

His words were cunning like a snake’s and Baekhyun almost couldn’t detect the slyness in his words. 

 

"I helped you move on from the first room. If not you would've been stuck there with me  _ forever _ . I'm really the only one whose words you should believe."

 

Baekhyun recalled their whole conversation in that smoky and darkly-lit room full of mirrors. The man had said something similar to that at the time. 

 

“But you said I also shouldn’t trust you,” Baekhyun told him confidently. 

 

The man’s face froze, and the smile on his face faltered into a frown. He was reduced to a  _ crack! _ and puff of black smoke and Baekhyun was facing Chanyeol again. 

 

Baekhyun looked down and saw nothing but barf; there was no snake or even much food, but most of the substance was clear acid. He hasn’t eaten anything; what would there be to throw up? 

 

“Come on, get up,” Chanyeol encouraged Baekhyun. Baekhyun weakly grabbed hold onto the taller’s arm and hand, but he could tell that Chanyeol was struggling, too, since he was shaking as he tried to help him up. 

 

“No energy…” Baekhyun moaned, as he felt himself fall again. The pain didn’t hit him right away, but it was a numbing sensation where his body hit the floor. Baekhyun’s stomach wasn’t even growling anymore, and his throat was increasingly growing drier and drier. He was constantly sweating due to his struggling, and it was starting to reek since neither Chanyeol nor he has taken a shower for a while. Not to mention, they’ve only gotten rid of their waste once since they haven’t had much to eat or drink. 

 

They must really be getting closer. 

 

“Come on, Baek,” Chanyeol goaded on. Baekhyun could see through blurred eyes, that Chanyeol was trying really hard to stay the strongest, even if he had to lean on the wall with his hand outstretched to offer help to him. 

 

Baekhyun had to do this for Chanyeol. He gathered all his strength and stood up without help, wanting the taller to save his energy.

 

"You alright?"

 

"I'm good."

 

They walked again and when they'd made it a pretty far distance, Baekhyun was growing exasperated at how they haven't reached the end yet. The labyrinth literally felt endless. 

 

_ Blink. _

 

Baekhyun felt like he was being watched. He quickly turned around and looked behind him, but there was no one else other than Chanyeol that was in the labyrinth. Was he becoming paranoid? 

 

“Chanyeol.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I could feel it.”

 

“Feel what?”

 

“Another hallucination. Help me before I go crazy,” Baekhyun cried, almost begging. 

 

“I can’t help you with that, but I know you are strong enough to overcome it,” Chanyeol encouraged him. 

 

The two of them couldn't hold up anymore and fell down again. This time they both had no will to get up. They were weak and tired, and they felt like they would just die quietly if they lied there forever. Everything would end if they just died peacefully.

 

"Baekhyun..." Chanyeol rasped, trying to overcome the dry spell of his throat. 

 

_ No, Baekhyun remembered why he was here. Why he wanted to get out in the first place. _

 

"You... need to continue..." Chanyeol managed to say.

 

_ He hated this place. He absolutely hated this place. _

 

Chanyeol's voice would go in and out of Baekhyun's focus. "I don't think... I can go on..."

 

_ He wanted to get out of this place and meet Chanyeol in his reality. _

 

"I... literally... can... not get... up," Chanyeol told him.

 

"You need to," Baekhyun urged, a little strength returned in his voice. "You need to come with me." 

 

"I want you to know that even though we've gone through a lot through these past few weeks and I'm glad I was there to protect you."

 

"That is exactly why you need to come with me, because, after this, I cannot imagine surviving without you."

 

Baekhyun used all his strength to stand as he held onto the wall. Then he hoisted Chanyeol up, who forced himself to remain standing and walk along the last few steps of this corridor. 

 

When they turned, a bright white light streamed across their faces and Baekhyun almost couldn't believe his eyes. 

 

"Ch... Chanyeol?" 

 

"... I can't believe it."

 

"Chanyeol! That's the exit, Chanyeol!!! We’re going to make it out together!!"

 

The exit was still a couple meters away, but it was in sight and that’s all that mattered. The end of their journey was at the tips of their tongues, and Baekhyun could almost taste their freedom. He grabbed Chanyeol’s hand and started sprinting, both of them forgetting their fatigue and weariness. 

 

But then there was a shrill, metallic roar. 

 

The sound of flapping wings resounded throughout the labyrinth and brief moment of darkness washed over them as something flew past by them overhead. Baekhyun’s dread of what the creature upon them caused him to stop running, frozen in his tracks and thoughts. 

 

“BAEKHYUN, COME ON!! LET’S KEEP RUNNING!!” Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun by the hand and yanked him out of his trance, this time being the one leading them towards the exit. 

 

The huge shadow fell over them again and a huge crash reverberated from behind them, causing them to lose balance and trip. The labyrinth was dusty and debris from the impact was floating around in the air. 

 

“What was that?” Baekhyun asked, recovering from his fall and coughing. 

 

“GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!!!” Chanyeol yelled, realizing the situation and scrambling up to his feet. He jerked up Baekhyun’s arm, who was still dazed and confused as to what was happening, and began running immediately as soon as Baekhyun was on his feet. 

 

“What’s happening?!” the shorter demanded for answers — if he turned back to look at what they were running from, he would probably stumble due to how fast they were sprinting. 

 

“Baekhyun, keep running. If something happens to me, you better forget about me and leave me behind,” Chanyeol commanded.  _ He was giving instructions to leave him behind? After all we’ve been through together? After I told you I love you? After I told you I wanted to walk through the exit together with you? _

 

“No. You know I can’t do that,” Baekhyun sternly said, even though it didn’t come out as he would have liked, since he was breathless from the running they were doing. 

 

“But you will,” Chanyeol ordered, authority and warning in his voice. 

 

The view of the exit was slowly becoming slimmer and slimmer, and the wall seemed to be growing thicker. “WE HAVE TO RUN FASTER. THE EXIT IS CLOSI—”

 

A guttural shriek came from whatever was behind them, interrupting whatever Chanyeol was going to say. Before they could even realize it, a loud crash sounded in front of them and dust flew all over the place again. This feeling of panic was starting to rise through Baekhyun’s stomach, making its way to his throat; he felt paralyzed and not being able to see through the smolder rendered him useless, as he had no idea what was going on. Through Baekhyun’s burning eyes, he could see the head of a dragon emerging from the smoke. 

 

“RUN UNDER IT, LET’S GO!!” Baekhyun heard Chanyeol yell at him, and he felt the grip on his hand tighten and pull him through and into the smoke. He barely just dodged the huge black clawed foot of the dragon when it suddenly emerged in the fog, and his eyes were starting to burn and water because of the particles in the air that his eyes should never have been exposed to.

 

The exit was so much nearer, but it was becoming so narrow. 

 

“BAEKHYUN, RUN FASTER!! GO AHEAD OF ME!! GO!!” Chanyeol yelled, and Baekhyun sprinted even harder, surpassing Chanyeol and listening to his orders. 

 

The dragon spotted them and started trudging towards them, yellow eyes gleaming in the dark smoke. It was getting closer and closer and the exit was closing off more and more… 

 

They were within two feet of where the exit was being closed off by the walls contracting and the view of the exit was lessening and lessening. Chanyeol saw the dragon almost towering over them and knew Baekhyun wasn’t going to make it if the dragon stopped him from going.

 

Chanyeol had to get Baekhyun through this. He, himself, didn’t need to make it out; only Baekhyun mattered. He had to stay behind and distract the dragon from harming Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun felt Chanyeol shove him from behind, and he went through the wall just before it became too narrow for another person to cross. Baekhyun was confused as to what just happened, but when he realized what happened, he looked through the closing walls.

 

Chanyeol was still on the other side.

 

"CHANYEOL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" Baekhyun screeched, trying to find a way to go back and get the taller.

 

Chanyeol just shook his head.

 

“Go on without me. Baekhyun, I love you.”

 

As the walls closed both of them off from each other, Baekhyun was left with an image of the dragon’s claws enclosing around Chanyeol’s waist.

 

“CHANYEOL!!!” Baekhyun cried out, pounding on the wall. 

 

It was useless. The wall was stone and thick, and the sound of Baekhyun’s fists hitting the wall barely made a smacking sound. “OPEN, PLEASE OPEN!! CHANYEOL!!” Baekhyun continued, angry and desperate tears now streaming down and blurring his vision of where he was even hitting the wall. The color red was starting to blossom through his muddled eyesight, and he felt a stinging in his knuckles as they continued to hit the wall.

 

He didn’t care, he just wanted to get through and get Chanyeol back. 

 

He kept on pounding and pounding, each blow to the wall inflicting bruises and blood on his fists. His knees were starting to feel that familiar weakness and soon he couldn't hold himself up anymore and slid down the wall. He cried and cried, thinking it was his fault that Chanyeol couldn't make it through. Baekhyun didn't know how long he had been hitting the wall and trying to make it open again, but it was probably a long time. 

 

The words Chanyeol said kept ringing in Baekhyun's ears and he cried, thinking that he had to obey those orders. 

 

_ "Go on without me."  _

 

Baekhyun's spirit was deflated and his sobs were now silent as he picked himself up and dragged himself towards the exit, already wanting this nightmare to end.

 

"Chanyeol, I love you."


	23. The Room of White Balloons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's to a place where no one wants to go

Baekhyun wanted to break down when he saw it wasn’t over. The exit of the labyrinth had only led him to the entrance of another room. Baekhyun thought it was  _ over _ .

 

But he was wrong, and right now, he felt like breaking down and crying again. 

 

Tears were clouding his vision once more, but he tried to keep a stable mind and took a step forward. His legs came into contact with something lightweight and white. He took another step and a bunch went flying. 

 

Baekhyun wiped his eyes and saw the whole room was white, including the balloons that covered the whole room up to his knees. He looked around closely and it wasn't like the other rooms — he looked like he was in a house on the bottom floor, since there were stairs to his right side. The white balloons were also scattered across the ceiling, but were not as abundant as the amount on the floor.

 

He took another step and another set of white balloons went flying. Baekhyun wondered if this was heaven, and if it was he, instead of Chanyeol, who died; surely if heaven wasn’t made of clouds, it would consist of white balloons in a white room. The whole place was eerily quiet, so Baekhyun would hear even the tiniest whisper and the lightest breath. 

 

He decided it would be in his best interest to get out of this place, but he didn’t know where to go. It seemed like the place he landed in was a whole house… Baekhyun decided to start with the staircase to his right; he made his way through the sea of balloons and reached the bottom of the stairs. He was going to set his foot down on the first step when he heard,

 

“Wrong way.”

 

Baekhyun couldn’t believe his ears. It was only a faint whisper but he had heard it loud and clear as if it was said right behind him. He immediately turned around only to be faced with nothing. No one was in the room, and the owner of the whisper was no where to be found. 

 

It had been Chanyeol’s voice. 

 

Baekhyun longed to hear it again, but he wasn’t sure if he had heard right. He decided that he was probably only hearing things since he had just been traumatized and could not accept the fact that he’ll never see Chanyeol again. He took another step up the stairs only to be stopped in his tracks again.

 

“Baek, I said that’s the _wrong_ _way_.” 

 

Baekhyun was shocked. He  _ had  _ heard right. “Chanyeol?”

 

No answer.

 

“Chanyeol, where are you?” 

 

Still no answer.

 

Baekhyun climbed down the stairs and back into the sea of balloons. Was Chanyeol here? Was he in the house? Baekhyun plunged into the expanse of white balloons, trying to make his way throughout the whole house. 

 

Baekhyun made his way towards a closet and swung open the door, yelling out, “Chanyeol?” He peeped his head in the kitchen, which was also filled with balloons. “Chanyeol, where are you?” His lover was nowhere to be seen in the dining room, the living room, or any of the bathrooms. 

 

Exhausted by the adrenaline he felt when he thought the tall man would be in the house, Baekhyun made his way to the living room, which was right where he started. The balloons flew up into the air when Baekhyun collapsed on the floor. He felt his heart hurting, filling with disappointment — his excitement was triggered for nothing and his high hopes had come crashing down. 

 

He would truly have to continue on without him. 

 

Baekhyun was sobbing, tears flowing down his face and onto the polished wooden floor. The balloons that were disrupted slowly came back down and covered Baekhyun. They were oddly comforting and Baekhyun felt as if they were slightly protecting him, hiding him away from hurt that was threatening to pierce into his heart even more. 

 

_ Shh, you’ll be fine. _

 

“I don’t want to continue on without you.”

 

_ You’re gonna have to. You’ll make it.  _

 

“I don’t have the confidence to. Not with you not by my side.” 

 

_ I know you can do it. I’ll always be beside you, whether or not you can see me.  _

 

“Please…”

 

_ Get up. _

 

Baekhyun emerged from the sea of balloons and wiped away his tears. His legs were wobbly and his mind was spinning, but he had to listen to Chanyeol and he had to stay strong. He didn’t know where to go, but he was sure that Chanyeol would help him in whatever way he could.

 

Walking through the house, dragging his feet through the balloons, he found himself in front of the side door in the kitchen. Through the glass and screen panels, Baekhyun could only see the familiar white light that shone through the maze’s exit. It was a little blinding and it was so pure and bright… 

 

Baekhyun hesitated. Where would this lead? Would he die as soon as he reached the other side? Would he be stuck in that place forever? Would he still be able to hear Chanyeol? Chanyeol’s deep and reassuring voice?

 

_ Go on. _

 

_ “I want you to go on without me.” _

 

_ “Chanyeol, you know I can’t do that.” _

 

_ “Go on without me. Baekhyun, I love you.” _

 

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said, before opening the door and stepping into the vast white expanse, a single tear glistening against his cheek. 


	24. The Blank Canvas

Blink.

 

A white light.

 

Blink.

 

It was blurry, but was it a white canvas he was standing in front of?

 

Blink.

 

“…”

 

_ Where am I? _

 

Baekhyun rubbed his eyes and when his vision became clearer, he saw he was standing in front of a painting. It looked somewhat like a floorplan or a detailed and colored blueprint, but it gave off a strange feeling. Baekhyun felt as if he was just looking at the painting and standing there for a long time; he checked his watch which said 4:08 pm. It had only been a minute since he looked at it.

 

Baekhyun looked up from his watch and at the picture again. Next to the painting was a framed paper with words on it:

 

Here's to a place where no one wants to go

And once you give up on life, it's a place you don't want to know

A room of mirrors painted in dark hues

A pool of tears splashed with bright blues

A checkered room patterned black and white 

Shadows with sight lurking without light 

Thousands of doors you have to walk past

Theres a taxi that seems like it's driving way too fast

Tiles of earth, air, water, and fire

Chickens play twister with winning as their desire

In a pathway of signs, signs appear too quick 

The singing man in a cube, who has a sharp high note nick 

Pathway of vessels shows what your heart holds true

The God of Suicide urges you past harm to start anew

Fruit grown in odd ways you've seen none to all

A hall of pillars that stand magnificent and tall

A grand luxury hall where you are what you eat

The Gallery of Kricasso, who never admits defeat

The knight fighting the dragon, life of rebirth is what he chose

Then you go through the labyrinth where everything comes to a close

Here's to a place where no one wants to go

But once you love life again, it's a place you're glad to know 

 

He scanned around the paper to see if there were any artists or poets who signed their art, but he found nothing. Why does he feel like he had read this before? It was so familiar… It must have been by a famous artist. 

 

The painting, especially. Baekhyun saw a room of chickens and faintly recalled a chicken’s nest on the door of the room that had a twister mat. An upside down musical note was depicted next to a pool. Tables of water and bread in the room with long tables. He realized he knew there were chandeliers supposed to be hanging overhead those tables; this was a floorplan — the ceiling was not shown. How had he known?

 

“It’s fascinating, right?” A deep, but familiar voice asked from behind. Baekhyun jumped up since he had not heard anyone coming up the stairs or walking up from behind him. 

 

He turned around and saw a man leaning in from behind him, but still tall enough to see the photo from over his shoulder. Another look and Baekhyun noticed large ears that made the man look like an elf. His hair was a red color and was styled up; he was lanky and skinny. 

 

“There’s so many rooms, and each of them have so much detail… it’s amazing. It’s a little disappointing that the artist didn’t sign his or her name,” the stranger continued on. 

 

Baekhyun couldn’t control what he did next; he couldn’t stop what came out of his mouth.

 

“Chanyeol?”

 

“Oh?” The stranger stood up straight and looked at Baekhyun with confused eyes. “How do you know my name?” 

 

Baekhyun had seen this look on this man before. It was when there was a cube in the room they were in, and it wouldn’t crumble when it was supposed to.

 

Suddenly, Baekhyun saw himself hanging off an edge, a huge block passing by, and this stranger was there to help him. Another moment, he saw themselves playing twister in the room in that painting. The next, he and Baekhyun were both dying in a dark, vaguely illuminated maze. 

 

He eyed the man, trying to see if there was any sign of recognition on his face. What if Baekhyun was imagining things? After all, this man looked slightly different from who Baekhyun recognized. 

 

Baekhyun felt like he was important though. He was missing something important, and the feeling wasn’t going away. It was a little discomforting, and the bothersome feeling only appeared when this man in front of him showed himself. He was too familiar to be ignored — but then, why isn’t there any sign of recollection or acknowledgment in his eyes?

 

“You’re Chanyeol, right?” 

 

The spark of realization that Baekhyun so longed for showed up in the stranger’s eyes. Baekhyun’s insides cried out in relief and his heart leaped for joy. 

 

“You… I know you,” Chanyeol stuttered. “But I’ve never met you before.”

 

Baekhyun remembers them kissing with the walls convulsing. 

 

“Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun closed his eyes and tried to remember more. He remembers the shattered look on this man’s face as the maze’s wall closed the both of them off from each other.

 

“You’re Baekhyun, right?”

 

Baekhyun slowly nodded, his eyes filling with tears. No, he didn’t want these tears; they were blurring any vision he had of the love he thought he lost. He thought he’d never see him again and there’s not another moment where he wants to lose sight of Chanyeol again. He wiped away his tears and looked at the giant’s new features. 

 

“Your hair… It’s red now…” Baekhyun gasped. “And it’s longer.”

 

“You’re wearing glasses right now,” Chanyeol drew in a breath. 

 

“But the labyrinth…”

 

“I got out of there. I don’t know how, but I did.”

 

Baekhyun had a strong urge to hug Chanyeol and tell him he’s glad everything is okay. He’s so glad this person is in front of him right now. 

 

“I thought you were gone in there. I thought I lost you forever. I thought you would cease to exist,” Baekhyun began sputtering and rambling. “I would rather you exist there and not be with you, than you not exist at all.” 

 

Chanyeol laughed remembering that a flustered Baekhyun was a cute Baekhyun. It was one of his favorite Baekhyuns. 

 

“But we’re together, right here right now; you don’t need to choose any of those choices.” Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun and wrapped him in a hug. “It’s okay now. We’re past all of the danger and nonsense.”

 

“Apples grow on trees,” Baekhyun reminded him, smiling.

 

“Yse, yes, I know that,” Chanyeol replied, laughing. “That place was completely crazy. That was an interesting journey.” 

 

Baekhyun remembers Chanyeol pulling him out of a painting by a single rope. He remembers treading water inside a vent with Chanyeol next to him. He remembers Chanyeol asking him to trust him and telling him that it’s his job to protect him. He remembers the back of this person as he sat and the other rowed a dark boat on a thickly blue lake. He also remembers Chanyeol saying, ‘I love you,’ for the first time and what he thought was the last time. 

 

“We’re both here and alive together, and that’s all that matters now.”


End file.
